Time Heals All Wounds
by phoenixnz
Summary: An AU - Lex returns to Metropolis and Smallville after thirteen years away, teenage daughter in tow. Chloe is a business reporter with the Daily Planet assigned to interview him. They never expected to fall in love. Warning: There will be character deaths, including one major SV canon character.
1. Chapter 1

Chloe Sullivan sighed wearily as she waited for the plane to land. It had been a long flight and she'd been forced to sit next to the most irritating person in creation. The man had kept trying to flirt with her, leering down her top. It was sexual harassment of the worst kind. The kind that was obvious to no one but her. And Chloe hadn't exactly been wearing a low-cut top.

She hated these business trips. But it was the price she paid for being a top reporter for one of the biggest newspapers in the city. No, the state, she corrected. The Daily Planet was more than just a newspaper in the great city of Metropolis. It was an institution.

For years she had been ensconced in investigative journalism. It was a field she'd enjoyed and she'd been good at it. But now she left that to the likes of her cousin Lois and her cousin's husband as well as her best friend Clark Kent. Now she was a columnist and business journalist.

Chloe had built her high school journalism career on the weird and unexplained. It was something which was a bit of legend in the small town of Smallville. An appropriate moniker, really, for the community of small-minded individuals who liked nothing better than a good gossip and pointing the finger at anyone who didn't see things their way.

Chloe had left behind that life a long time ago, although Lois and Clark still called it home. They had an apartment in the city but they spent weekends at the farm.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent into Metropolis International Airport. Please ensure your seatbelts are fastened and your trays are in the upright position."

Chloe immediately moved to check her seatbelt was fastened. Her seatmate leaned over, his arm deliberately brushing her breasts.

"Let me help you," he said, pushing her tray up and making sure it was properly locked.

Chloe glowered at him, but said nothing. Six hours of putting up with the innuendo of this man and it was almost over.

"You know, if you're free later ..." he began.

"Actually," she said, "I won't be. My family is meeting me."

The man glanced down at her hand.

"I don't see a ring," he hinted.

"It's the twenty-first century," she told him. "Not everyone needs a ring."

She was half tempted to tell him she was gay. Not that she was. But she doubted whether that would make any difference.

The man irritated her no end. He'd kept telling her she was beautiful. Sexy, even. And Chloe had always had trouble believing that. All the years of insecurity in high school, her crush on Clark, had her thinking she wasn't beautiful. Wasn't desirable. And a failed relationship with Clark's best friend, Oliver Queen, had also left her more than a little ticked at men. Especially because Oliver had cheated on her.

Chloe was a lot of things. But she was no doormat. When a man cheated on her, she decided there would be no second chances. So she had dumped Oliver.

The plane lurched as it hit the tarmac and she reached out a hand, forgetting her seatmate was beside her. Her hand collided with his chest and she shrank back, mortified.

"Don't worry Princess," he grinned. "Your white knight is here to save you."

Chloe groaned and rolled her eyes. As soon as the plane had taxied to a stop and the seatbelt light was turned off, she unlatched it and stood up, grabbing her laptop from the top compartment and walked quickly along the aisle, her heels practically grounding into the carpet with the purposefulness of her stride.

The hostess looked at her.

"You're supposed to wait in your seat, ma'am," she said.

Chloe glared at her. '

"First of all, don't call me ma'am. You make me sound like my mother. Second, just open the damn door! I have places to be!"

For such a petite woman, Chloe could be intimidating when she wanted to be. It was a habit she'd picked up from Clark, she supposed. Especially when he was in his other persona.

The door couldn't be opened fast enough. Chloe walked along the airbridge to the customs desk, thrusting her passport at the clerk, who glanced her over and stamped her entry.

"In a hurry?" he asked her.

"No," she returned, knowing full well the customs officer would look on her behaviour as kind of suspicious. "Can we get on with this?"

Just as she thought, the officer waved one of the security guards over.

"Look," Chloe said, "I've just spent six hours in the company of a man who has wandering hands and a big mouth and I just wanted to get away from him."

"Are you carrying any food or drugs?"

"No. Look, I'm exhausted. Can we skip the body search? Please? I ..."

She happened to glance over at one of the other desks and spotted a bald man with a teenage girl looking bored beside him. The clerk was asking him the same questions Chloe was being asked and he was nodding. Chloe stared at him, open-mouthed. It couldn't be!

He must have felt the weight of her stare because he looked around. Chloe caught a glimpse of intense blue-grey eyes and her heart skipped a beat.

Lex Luthor!

"Excuse me, miss?"

Chloe turned back to the clerk. "Sorry. I thought I just saw someone I used to know. Um, so are we good?"

"You can go," the clerk told her.

Chloe nodded her thanks, taking her papers and moved quickly through customs, grabbing her bag from the carousel and looking around for Lex. But the bald man was nowhere to be found.

As she went through to the terminal, she saw Lois and Clark waving to her. Clark was holding a five month old girl in his arms and a two year old boy was standing beside his mother, sucking his thumb.

She hugged them.

"How was the trip?" Lois asked.

"It was fine. Exhausting." She looked around again.

"Chloe?" Clark asked.

"What?"

"You look a little rattled. Anything wrong?"

"Um, no, I guess ... I thought I saw Lex."

"Lex?"

"You remember him, Clark. Lex Luthor? Lived in Smallville about a year and a half?"

Clark nodded, glancing at his wife. "What about him?"

"Well, I haven't exactly been able to keep up with the Planet the last couple of weeks. I had no idea he was back."

"Neither did I," Clark said. "I haven't kept in touch with him the last few years."

"Considering how close you were, I find that a little hard to believe," Chloe said, as they began walking to the exit to the parking lot.

"Well, you know after his wife and his dad died, Lex kind of fell apart. You know how much he and Sarah loved each other."

"God, I saw his daughter. She looks the image of Sarah. She must be ... what, thirteen now?"

Clark frowned. "I guess so."

He unlocked the trunk of the car and lifted Chloe's suitcase in.

"So, home? I'm guessing you're pretty tired."

"Yeah, I am," Chloe admitted, wiping a hand over her eyes. "All I want to do is just fall into bed."

She waited until Clark had buckled up the children into their baby seats, then got in the back. Clark opened the front passenger door for his wife and she gave him a smile. Lois had been curiously silent through most of the exchange.

"Everything okay Lois?" Chloe asked her cousin.

"Fine. Why do you ask?"

"You're just very quiet, that's all."

"I've just been feeling a little under the weather," Lois said, turning to look at her as Clark started the car and drove out of the lot.

Chloe frowned at her, then saw Lois' look at the two children.

"You sad momma?" little Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, baby, momma's just a little sad."

Chloe's frown deepened, but she didn't ask her cousin what was up. She picked up one of the children's toys and began distracting them as Clark drove through the city.

She was half asleep by the time Clark and Lois dropped her off at her apartment. She managed to stay awake long enough to heat up some soup in the microwave and eat it before falling into bed. She didn't wake again until twelve hours later.

The phone ringing woke her.

"Chloe Sullivan," she said, yawning widely.

"Well, good morning," Perry White barked into the phone. "You're late, Sullivan. Get your butt down here or you're fired!"

Chloe glanced at the clock. It was 9am. She was supposed to have been at work half an hour ago. She quickly pushed back the covers, going to the kitchen and turning on the coffee pot, hurriedly changing the filter, then practically ran back to the bedroom, grabbing her clothes for the day and jumped in the shower.

Half an hour later, grumbling because she'd burned her mouth with scalding hot coffee from drinking it in a hurry, she rushed out the door, then ran back in, flustered because she'd left her laptop behind.

By 10am, she was at her desk at the Daily Planet. She barely had time to log in before Perry came in.

"Sorry chief," she said. "Jet lag. I overslept."

"Never mind about that. You seen the paper this morning?"

"No sir," she said, shaking her head. "I've barely had any time in the last couple of weeks, what with meetings and everything."

"Lex Luthor's back in town."

Chloe frowned. "So I wasn't imagining it."

"You knew?"

"I saw him last night. I think he was on the same flight as I was."

"Never thought someone like Lex Luthor would fly commercial," Perry said, shaking his head. "Speak to me."

"Lex left the country after the deaths of his wife and his father. Luthorcorp was broken up into small pieces, with many of them sold off. Lex wanted nothing to do with the corporation. He kept only two pieces; that I know of. One was the fertiliser plant in Smallville, and the other was a research lab called Cadmus."

"Luthor's a scientist. Why would he keep a fertiliser plant?"

"I think out of a sense of loyalty, chief. The people of Smallville were good to him. They were there for him when Sarah died."

"You talk like you know him," Perry said.

"I did. Only briefly. But maybe you should talk to Clark. He knew him better. They were friends for over a year."

"I don't think that's necessary, Sullivan. I want you to interview him. Luthor's notoriously media-shy. You're the best reporter I have, aside from Kent and Lane. But they're investigative journalists."

"Chief, I really don't think ..."

"Do it, Sullivan. Or you're fired!"

Chloe rolled her eyes and smiled at her boss.

"You know, that threat would work a whole lot better if you weren't saying it ten times a day."

Perry grinned back at her. "One of these days, I might actually mean it."

Chloe spent half the day trying to get in contact with someone at Cadmus. Until it hit her. She dialled a familiar number.

"Hi Dad."

"Chloe." She could hear the smile in her father's voice. "How's my girl?" he asked.

"I'm great. Listen, I heard Lex was back in town. You hear from him?"

"Actually, yes," Gabriel Sullivan told his daughter. "Why?"

Chloe knew she couldn't lie to her father. They'd been through a lot over the years.

"Because Perry wants me to corner him for an interview."

"I don't know, honey. Lex ... he just wants to be left alone."

"And everyone is talking about Lex's return, dad. Come on, you must have some sway with him. He kept the plant open, helped you with the employee buyout."

"Well, sure, but ..."

"Dad, please. At least talk to him. Remind him of Smallville."

"Chloe, I really don't think he wants to be reminded. That is, after all, where he lost everything."

"I really don't think you want me to hack into your personal phone records and get his number, dad."

"You know that's illegal, Chloe," her father admonished her, chuckling. "Fine. I'd hate for you to break the law just for a story."

"Thanks Dad."

She grabbed her bag and went downstairs to Lois and Clark's office. Clark was out, obviously on something other than a story. Lois was frowning at her computer, but looked up.

"Hey cuz," Lois said softly.

"Feel like some lunch?" Chloe asked. "My treat."

"I don't know. Clark might be back any minute, and ..."

"That's what your cellphone's for," Chloe smiled. "Come on. It's been ages since we've had a girl talk."

Lois sighed, then followed her. They walked a couple of blocks to their favourite cafe, ordering from the menu and sitting at a corner table.

"Okay cuz, what's going on? Why have you been under the weather?"

"Look, Clark and I didn't want to say anything, but ... well, I got pregnant again."

"Already? Must be the Kryptonian genes," Chloe answered in a low voice.

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I lost the baby."

Chloe put a hand over her cousin's.

"Lo, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, you were away. It happened about ten days ago and I knew you were busy with the conference and everything. I just didn't want to worry you."

"No wonder you seem so down. How does Clark feel about all this?"

"He was devastated, of course. But the doctor said there's no reason why I can't have another baby."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?"

"It's just, well, I thought this one was a little too soon. I mean, Lara's only five months. And Jon's only two."

"And you want time to get over the last pregnancy before you have another one. Of course. There's nothing wrong with that, Lo. Have you talked to Clark about this?"

"Sort of. Well, no, not in so many words."

"Lo, Clark loves you. Give him a chance to show it."

An hour later, Chloe returned to the office to find a message waiting for her.

_Lex Luthor called, _the brief message said. She dialled the number.

"It's Chloe Sullivan."

"Chloe, it's been a few years. I hear you're a star business journalist now."

"Among other things. My editor wants an interview. You up for it?"

"Chloe, I don't give interviews."

"Lex, I get that. You had a bad experience with journalists after ... after what happened, but if you've done your homework, you know I have a reputation for fair and balanced reporting."

"I have done my homework, Chloe, and the answer is still no. I'm sorry. I don't give interviews to any press. Even to old acquaintances."

"At least give me a chance to change your mind. Let me buy you a drink at the Ace of Clubs."

"I don't drink anymore."

"It doesn't have to be an alcoholic drink. Sparkling mineral water, maybe?"

"You are persistent," he chuckled.

"Tonight," she said. "Look, I'll be there from seven until eight. If you feel like meeting up with an old ... acquaintance, that's where I'll be."

"I'll consider it," he said softly.

"Lex ..."

"Yes?"

"Welcome home."

"Thank you Chloe. It's good to be here."


	2. Chapter 2

Lex had to admit he should have been more surprised by the call. And Chloe's request. But then, the Chloe Sullivan he'd known back in Smallville had been fairly tenacious.

He supposed the polite thing to do would be to meet her and at least let her have her say before turning her down flat for the interview. While it had been inevitable that word would get out of his return, Lex wasn't planning on announcing it to the world.

He'd planned on going over the plans for Cadmus, but a sound in the kitchen of his newly acquired apartment had him getting up to investigate.

Lily had her head in the refrigerator, clearly looking for something to eat. As he watched, she pulled out a bottle of juice and drank.

"Ahem," he said.

Lily looked around, startled.

"Dad. I didn't know you were standing there."

"Drink from a glass Lily," he said with a sigh. "Where are your manners?"

"We're not at a restaurant dad. Chill!"

Lex raised an eyebrow at her.

"Did you really just tell me to chill?" he asked.

"Um ..." Lily reddened. "Sorry. So what's going on? What was that phone call about?"

"An old acquaintance wants to interview me for the Daily Planet."

"Why? What'd you do?"

"It's not so much what I did, Lily," he said, observing as she brought out a head of lettuce, tomatoes and prosciutto, dumping it on the counter, then pulled out a loaf of bread as well. "Making a sandwich?"

"Yeah. Want one?"

"Thanks, but I'm not that hungry."

"You gotta eat, dad. You work too much and you forget to eat."

"You're my daughter, not my nursemaid."

"And if Mama were alive, she'd tell you the same thing," Lily reminded him.

Years ago, those words would have brought him a jolt of pain. But Sarah had been gone for thirteen years and the wounds of her death had healed somewhat. He would always miss her, but she would have been the first to tell him he needed to move on.

Lily made her sandwich and put another on a plate for him, pushing the plate toward him. The message was silent but clear. 'Eat'.

Lex took the sandwich with a little shrug.

"I may be going out tonight," he said. "I haven't decided yet."

"I can be trusted on my own dad."

"You're only thirteen Lily. I don't like leaving you here alone."

"It's not like I'm going to have any wild parties. I mean, since I don't know anybody yet."

"Lily ..."

"Dad ..."

"All right, fine. But you're not to leave the apartment. And make sure the door stays locked. Don't answer it to anyone, hear me?"

Lily rolled her eyes. She knew what to do but he couldn't help worrying. It had been just the two of them for so long and she was growing up so fast. But Lex had never had any complaints about his daughter. She was more responsible than he had been at the same age.

"So is this a date, Dad?"

"Excuse me?"

"You said you were going out. Is it a date?"

"No, it's the reporter. She wants to convince me to do the interview. And I haven't decided I'll go yet."

Lily chewed her sandwich, looking thoughtful.

"Is she nice?"

"She was very nice when I knew her. That was before you were born, Lily."

"Oh. Cool. You should go, Dad. You don't get out much. Would be good for you."

Lex chuckled and reached over to ruffle his daughter's hair. She scrambled away from him.

"Dad!" she said in exasperation.

Lex finished his sandwich, only half aware that he had been eating it at all, and turned to go back to his office as Lily ate her own. She put her plate on the counter and tidied up, then went out, giving him a brief kiss on the cheek as she passed on her way to the living room to watch television.

Lex tried to go back to work, but he found himself pulling out an old photo album. He opened the stiff pages and looked at the first photo. Sarah. She'd been so beautiful. She had shining, dark blonde hair and hazel eyes that seemed to change colour whatever she was wearing. In the photograph she had been wearing green, which gave her eyes a greenish hue.

He remembered the first time he saw her. He'd been sixteen and forced to attend a dance, one of the social gatherings foisted on students at Excelsior. Girls from a local school had been recruited to make up the numbers. Oliver Queen and his cronies had, of course, started making trouble the moment they'd walked in the door, pushing around anyone they considered beneath them, which was just about everyone there. Lex had little time for the blonde bully, who thought he was far superior than his peers at Excelsior.

Lex had been standing with his best friend, Duncan, talking about his favourite comic Warrior Angel, when a girl walked up to him.

"You really like Warrior Angel?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?" he said, immediately on the defensive.

"That's so cool! I like him too."

He frowned at the girl with dark blonde hair. She was maybe about fifteen.

"Really? Why?"

"Cause everyone needs a hero. And he's bald. I think bald is sexy."

Lex choked on his soda. Duncan patted him on the back as he coughed. Lex had been bald since he was nine and the last thing he would have thought was that it was sexy.

"I'm Sarah," she said. "Wanna dance?"

"I don't dance," he told her when he recovered.

Duncan looked at him. "You should dance with her," he nudged.

"No. Besides, what're you going to do?"

"I'm okay. Go on Lex."

"Yeah, come on Lex," Sarah said, smiling at him.

Lex couldn't detect any tricks in that smile. She seemed to genuinely like him. So he let himself be dragged onto the dance floor. Sarah put her arms around his neck and they began to dance to the pop song.

Just as he was beginning to enjoy dancing with the girl, who he had to admit was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, Oliver pushed him aside.

"I'm cutting in."

Sarah glared at him. "I was dancing with Lex," she said.

"Now you're dancing with me," he told her with a wolfish grin.

"No thanks. I don't dance with Neanderthals," she sniffed. She pulled away from him, but Oliver wouldn't let go. Sarah scowled. "Let me go!"

"No!"

"Let her go," Lex pleaded.

"Beat it, freak!"

"Don't call him a freak, you jerk!" Sarah growled. She lifted her foot and stomped down on Oliver's, then kicked him in the shin. He yelped in pain. "You're just a stupid bully and I don't like the way you treat people. So if anyone's the freak around here, it's you, Oliver."

With that, Sarah turned on her heel and grabbed Lex's hand, walking away. Lex hesitated to follow her, but then she sniffed and he realised she was crying. He let her lead him outside where she wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"I hate guys like him," she said, sniffing. "Why does he have to be so mean?"

Lex shrugged. "I don't know. I guess he's just projecting his own inadequacies on others. Bullying people makes him feel powerful."

"Yeah. And I bet he's afraid of you because you're smarter than him. He's the kind of guy who has to steal the answers to a test because he's too stupid and lazy to learn the answers for himself. I bet he's jealous of you."

Lex frowned at her. How did she know anything about him? Sarah smiled shyly at him.

"I saw you at another dance a couple of months ago and I started asking questions about you. You don't mind that, do you? It's just, well, I really like you. You're cute, and you're nice."

Cute? No one had ever called him cute before. Most of the time, people just thought he was weird because of his baldness. He touched his head self-consciously.

"Hey, it's okay. I know you had an accident when you were a kid. I mean, I heard most people thought it was like cancer or something, but I know what happened. Well, sort of. And I don't think you're weird."

Had he spoken his fears out loud? Sarah smiled at him and it made him think he really had said those things out loud.

"What's it like at St Augustine's?" he asked.

"Boring. You know, usual Catholic school. The nuns are no fun at all."

"Well, yeah, they're nuns," he said. "I don't think they're meant to be fun."

Sarah laughed. She had a really nice laugh, and she was so pretty when she smiled.

They began spending all their time together. Duncan would occasionally join them, at Sarah's insistence. She wanted to get to know the boy who was Lex's best friend. Duncan told him he wanted to be a lawyer, but one who would help the under-privileged. Lex was into science – bio-chemistry. He had plans to have his own lab one day. But he knew deep down his father wouldn't let him.

Sarah wanted to be a teacher. She already had plans to attend Metropolis University, since that was where both her parents had gone. Lex had early admission to Princeton, which he would be starting next semester.

Duncan was happy that Lex had a girlfriend. Lex certainly felt a lot more confidence in himself with Sarah around. And with some lessons he'd been given by Mac, one of his father's security team, he had learned a little self-defence. Oliver hadn't known what hit him when Lex had faced him and beaten him. When the headmaster, John Reynolds, had heard of the fight, he'd wanted to suspend Lex, until both Sarah and Duncan had jumped to his defence, telling him that Oliver had started it. It was backed up by several witnesses, and it was Oliver who was suspended instead.

As the year end approached, Lex worried that Sarah would forget all about him and move on with someone else. He'd borrowed a car off one of his classmates and taken her to the lookout. Of course, to his classmates, it was known as Makeout Point.

"You know I'll be going to Princeton next year," he told her as they sat in the car.

"I know," she said sadly.

"Sarah, I ..."

"Lex, don't, okay? It's hard enough saying goodbye. It's knowing that you'll meet a girl at Princeton and you'll forget all about me. And I wish you wouldn't." She turned her head and looked at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I know it sounds silly but I love you, Lex. I think I've always loved you."

He took her hand, stroking her palm with his thumb.

"I love you too," he said. "But our parents ... they'd never let us."

"Why? Because mine aren't rich like your dad?"

"I don't care about that stuff. You know that."

"I know. I just ... I can't imagine being with anyone else."

"Me either. What are we going to do Sarah?"

"I still have two years of high school and you'll have college."

Lex pulled her close and held her. He knew what he was feeling and what he wanted. The question was, did she? He sighed softly, his breath ruffling her hair.

"Sarah?" he asked.

"Yes Lex?" she said, lifting her head from where it had been tucked under his chin to look at him.

"Will you marry me? I mean, I know we're not old enough that our parents wouldn't freak, but ... when you're eighteen ..."

He was babbling, but he didn't care. She was the girl he loved and he couldn't let her get away from him.

"Yes, Lex. I'll marry you. When we're both old enough so our parents can't say no. And it's not so far away. I mean, I'll be eighteen in a year and a half."

"That's not so long," he smiled.

Sarah leaned forward and kissed him and it was the best kiss he'd ever had from her, despite the fact they'd made out plenty of times, because she put all her love for him in that kiss.

A year and a half could seem awfully long, however, when they wanted to be together in every physical way possible. Lex was feeling a little frustrated one night when, just over a year later, he'd returned from Princeton for summer vacation. They'd been making out on the couch when he touched her breast beneath her blouse. Sarah shrank away from him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Lex, I ..." She was blushing, her cheeks almost a fiery red. "I don't want to go all Catholic schoolgirl on you."

And didn't that bring up some connotations. Especially since he and Duncan, who had got a scholarship to Princeton and was taking pre-law, had spent many hours entertaining themselves with certain adult-oriented movies.

As usual, Sarah seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, and she gave him a little shove.

"That's it. I'm stealing your Playboys," she said.

"I'd like to see you try," he smirked, not even denying that he had the magazines.

"Lex, I just ... I want to wait. Do you mind?"

"You mean, wait until we get married?"

"It's not so far away," she said. "I mean, it's next June. Right after graduation. I know it's eleven months, but I want my first time to be special."

"Our first time," he corrected her, since he'd chosen not to lose his virginity too, unless it was with her. "And it will be." He wanted to tell her that they didn't have to wait until they were married to make it special. But she had a set expression and he wasn't going to deny her this. He could never deny her anything.

It was a good thing, he decided later, that they hadn't got into any more than just some heavy petting, as the doors were flung open.

"Lex."

Lex kept an arm around his girl and looked calmly up at his father.

"Dad."

"Tell your little ... girlfriend to go home." Lex ignored the deliberate snub.

"No. Sarah belongs here."

"Do you two really think I'm going to let you run off and get married?" Lionel scoffed.

"I am an adult, Dad. I'm old enough to know what I want. And what I want is Sarah."

"Send her home, Lex. I have business matters to discuss with you."

"Whatever you have to say you can say it in front of Sarah. I have no secrets from her."

From the expression on Lionel's face, Lex could see his father realised he wasn't going to win.

Lionel berated him for what seemed like hours. Lex had chosen a science major at Princeton and Lionel was not happy. He'd wanted Lex to choose business, as he fully intended to have Lex join Luthorcorp when he graduated. Lex wanted his own laboratory.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't the first time they'd battled over his career choices and it certainly wasn't the last, Lex sighed when, a little over three years later, he drove into the parking lot of Luthorcorp plant number three.

He got out of the car and looked around, despondent. Smallville, Kansas. The scene of his worst nightmares. He glanced over at the cornfield growing next to the plant. Most of it was filled with experimental crops, used as a testing ground for the fertiliser.

"Thanks Dad."

He'd had no choice in the matter. Lionel had indulged his whims for only a certain amount of time. But he'd called Lex into his office and told him he was going to Smallville and his word was final. And if Lex refused, then Lionel would make sure that Sarah's scholarships were yanked.

Lex had completed advanced courses and had transferred to Met U as soon as he and Sarah had married, finishing his degree in less than a year before starting graduate studies. He had an apartment off campus where they lived together. Sarah had managed to get a couple of scholarships through local trusts which had helped pay for her tuition costs and she worked part-time as a teaching assistant.

Sarah being Sarah, she had refused any of Lex's offers of help with her tuition, despite the fact they'd been married for two years. She'd even asked him to draw up a pre-nuptial agreement, not wanting Lionel to object to their union on the grounds that she was some kind of gold-digger. Despite the fact that they'd been together for three years before their marriage and Sarah had never done anything that would make Lionel believe she was in this for money.

Lex had reluctantly had the agreement drawn up and Sarah had signed it without a murmur. She had never cared about his money. Only him. And he loved her for it.

Sarah had begged him to at least give it a few months in Smallville. She was forever trying to patch things up between him and his father, playing the peacemaker. Lionel continued to treat her as he always did. Which was to snub her attempts to make them into a family.

Lex admired his wife's tenacity though. She had a strength about her that meant no matter what Lionel said or did, he couldn't break her spirit.

It was late in the afternoon when Lex drove out of the parking lot and along the highway toward the mansion that would be his home for the next however long it took for Lionel to be satisfied his son was toeing the line.

His phone rang as he drove and he picked it up automatically. It was a text message from Sarah. She had just come out of psych class and was planning on driving down for the weekend. Lex started to text back when he chanced to look up to see a roll of barbed wire on the road. Gasping, he wrenched the steering wheel but the two front tyres exploded, sending the car fishtailing all over the road.

He held on with all his strength to the wheel, dropping the phone, but the car seemed to have a life of its own. He stared in shock at the young man standing on the bridge. For a moment their gazes met in mutual terror and then Lex felt a sharp pain in his chest and in his head as the car impacted with the bridge railing. Then all was silent. His last thought was for Sarah as he blacked out.

For just a moment he could feel himself flying over Smallville, looking down at the fields. He was free. Nothing could possibly hurt him. But then the pain returned and his lungs felt as if they were on fire. He stared up into green eyes.

"I thought I hit you," he said hoarsely, realising how sore his throat was as he spoke.

A thousand emotions flitted across the face of the young man sitting above him, water dripping down from his head.

"If you did I'd be ... I'd be dead."

Lex later found out that the young man, or boy, was named Clark Kent. And he was only fourteen. Fourteen? he thought. The boy looked a lot older.

He hadn't wanted to worry Sarah, but she clearly had been informed of the accident and she ran the corridors of Smallville Medical Centre to the Emergency Room.

"Oh my god, Lex," she said as Lex lay on the bed in the ER.

Lex submitted to her hug, noticing she was careful not to hug him too hard, in deference to his cracked ribs.

"I'm fine sweetheart," he said.

She sat on the bed and brushed her fingertips over the cut on his cheek.

"They told me you died for a minute."

"It was only a minute," he assured her. "And I really am fine."

Sarah looked at the doctor who had entered the room.

"I take it you're Mrs Luthor," he said, giving nothing away in his tone. But Lex knew from the odd look he gave the young couple that he thought they were awfully young to be married.

"Yes, doctor. I came as soon as I heard."

"Well, your husband is going to be fine. He has a couple of cracked ribs and a mild concussion but he got off extremely lucky. We'd like to keep him in overnight for observation."

"Of course," Sarah said, nodding. She turned and looked at Lex and smiled in amusement. He was going to argue that he didn't need an overnight stay, but she leaned forward and kissed him before he could say anything. "You're staying," she said. "You nearly drowned, Lex."

Lex bit his lip, but nodded. Sarah's expression suggested he better not argue with her. Sarah might be a petite woman, but she was a forceful personality when she wanted to be.

Sarah stayed long enough for him to be settled into a room for the night. He told her about the boy who had saved his life and what he wanted to do to thank him. Sarah said nothing about the truck he wanted to buy for Clark. She was used to Lex's big gestures and on this he knew he would get his way.

So he was surprised when, a couple of days later, Clark came to return the truck.

"What's the matter? You don't like it."

"It's not that," Clark said.

"Your father wouldn't let you take it," Lex said, nodding in understanding. "He doesn't like me."

"It's just ... he's not so crazy about your dad."

"Yeah, not a lot of people are," Lex told him.

"Well, I should go," Clark said, turning. He bumped into Sarah. "Oh, hi."

"Clark, this is my wife. Sarah."

Clark looked surprised, but he smiled in greeting.

"Hi. I'm Clark."

"So you're the one I have to thank for saving Lex's life."

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

"Well, thank you. Lex is very precious to me," she smiled. Lex hugged her.

"Mutual babe," he smiled. "Uh, Clark was here to return the truck I bought."

"Oh?" She grinned. "Let me guess. Your parents wouldn't let you accept it."

Clark blushed, his expression suggesting he was uncomfortable with the topic of discussion.

"Sorry," he murmured.

"It's fine, Clark," she said. "Lex has yet to learn that not everyone is used to such big gestures. Look, why don't you come for dinner with us one night? That way I can at least feel like we're showing our gratitude properly. And I doubt your parents would refuse that."

Clark grinned brightly. "You're right," he said.

The night of the homecoming dance, Lex was late getting home. Sarah greeted him at the door and took his coat.

"You're late," she said, her tone less of an admonishment and more of a concern.

"I know. The strangest thing happened."

Sarah canted her head at him. "Oh?"

"I was just about to pull onto the highway past the plant and I saw this kid. I swear it was the same kid I saw twelve years ago. You remember, I told you about that. The scarecrow thing? Apparently it's some kind of homecoming tradition."

"Sounds more like a hazing, but go on."

Lex followed her into the den, stripping off his driving gloves. He sat next to her on the leather couch, warming his hands by holding them in front of the fire.

"Well, anyway, I got out of the car to look for him and then I hear someone calling out for help. So I went into the cornfield and there was Clark. They'd made him the scarecrow."

Sarah's eyes widened. "My god! Is he all right?"

"Well, that's the even weirder part. As soon as I helped him down, he got up good as new. And I found this," he said, pulling the necklace with the green rock out of his pocket.

Sarah took it, studying it. "Hmm," she said.

He looked at her. "Is that all you can say? Hmm?"

She grinned. "What do you want me to say? How about 'fascinating'," she answered, raising one eyebrow. "Is that the Spock way?"

Lex growled. "I'll give you Spock, missy," he answered, pouncing on her and holding her down, tickling her, making her giggle until she cried for mercy.

Next day they decided to go to the Farmers' Market to scope out the territory. And Sarah wanted to check out the produce. She was forever trying to get him to eat properly, although he often got so caught up in his work, and his experiments, that he forgot to eat.

Lex spotted Clark, who, it appeared, was trying to be subtle, spying on a pretty, young brunette.

"Can't knock your taste in women," he commented, nudging Clark out of his daydream.

"Lex," Clark smiled. "Sarah with you?"

"Yeah, she's checking out some of the stalls. I swear, every time we go to one of these things she finds these ugly little knick knacks that I just know I'm going to have to put up somewhere ..."

As Lex was speaking, Sarah was sneaking up behind him. She grinned and put a finger to her lips to warn Clark to not say a word. But with some peculiar sixth sense, Lex turned and grabbed her before she could do anything. Sarah squealed, laughing, and Lex kissed her, cutting off her laughter.

"What's this about ugly little knick knacks?" she said.

"Um, nothing?" Lex said, looking a little sheepish at being caught out.

"I'll remember that next time you bring home something hideous from an art auction," she told him, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Love me, love my art."

"Touche, babe," she retorted. She took his hand. "Come on. I just met Clark's mom and we're going to buy some of their produce."

Lex put on a long-suffering 'do I have to?' expression, but let himself be dragged away, leaving Clark laughing at them both.

Martha Kent was a vivacious redhead in her forties.

"Here he is, Martha," Sarah sang. "I found him chatting to Clark."

"Well, hello Lex," Martha smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Mrs Kent," Lex said, reaching out a hand. She shook it warmly.

"I was telling Martha about your aversion to vegetables," Sarah said, almost crowing.

He looked at her. "How could you tell her that? I do not have an aversion to vegetables."

"Oh please. If I wasn't there to make you eat, you'd starve," she scoffed. "And you're worse when it comes to your veggies. Or are you forgetting the spinach and brussel sprout incident?"

"One time, Sarah. One time."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "God help us if we ever get around to having kids, because I just know I'm going to be struggling getting them to eat right too."

"What incident?" Clark asked, coming up behind them.

"Lex got caught hiding them in his napkin. His father didn't care but the cook had a field day. Especially when the butler went to pick it up," Sarah chortled. "Lex tried to put the blame on him."

"Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase: 'the butler did it."

Sarah choked. "Oh, you're a riot, Luthor. Why do I put up with you?"

"Because you love me," he answered promptly.

"Well, I knew there had to be a good reason," she laughed. She turned back to Martha. "Anyway, since Clark wasn't able to accept the truck Lex got, I suggested Clark should come to dinner with us one night. Why don't you and Mr Kent come too?"

"Oh great, invite the whole town while you're at it," Lex complained.

Sarah turned on him again, eyes widening.

"Behave yourself, Luthor," she told him. "Or you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight."

"We've got at least fifteen bedrooms honey, that are usable anyway."

"And what makes you think you'd get to use any one of them?" she retorted.

Lex grimaced. "Guess that means I'm in the doghouse?"

"You betcha."

Martha laughed at the young couple. A tall blonde man approached and Lex recognised him as Jonathan Kent.

"Clark, I thought you were going to help me," he said.

"Mr Kent," Lex said, reaching out his hand.

"Lex," he said shortly, taking the offered hand and shaking it. Lex shot a look at Clark and shrugged.

"Jonathan, Sarah was just inviting us all to dinner one night."

"We'll be busy that night," was his reply.

Lex started to say something but Sarah got there first.

"Mr Kent, I know you're not crazy about the Luthors, but please don't judge Lex on what his father has done. Believe me, we're not too crazy about Lionel's past misdeeds either."

Lex shot her a look, but she returned it with a 'shush, I'm talking here' look. She turned back to Jonathan.

"At least give us a chance to change your mind. Come to dinner next Saturday. I mean, I'd like the chance to thank Clark properly for his saving Lex. And dinner has to be better than a truck."

Jonathan was studying her and Lex thought for a moment the blonde farmer was going to say no. But he nodded.

"All right. Dinner next Saturday."

Lex had a feeling he was going to get a lecture about being on his best behaviour. But from the way Martha was looking at Jonathan, he wasn't going to be the only one.


	4. Chapter 4

The dinner the next week wasn't as bad as Lex had feared. But then, he thought, Sarah could charm anyone. She certainly had Jonathan Kent, figuratively speaking, eating out of the palm of her hand.

As the weeks passed, Lex found himself less of a curiosity in the small town and more a part of the community. And that was all thanks to Sarah. When she wasn't pursuing her studies, she was volunteering at various functions. She never pushed Lex into taking part, and she encouraged his friendship with Clark. Duncan was busy with his own law studies and couldn't spend as much time with Lex as he would have liked, so it was good to have someone else to confide in.

Lex knew there was something different about Clark, but after discussing it with Sarah, he decided to drop his investigation into his accident. He could tell from the way Jonathan stopped looking at him like he was the enemy that Jonathan was relieved.

Around Christmas, which Lionel didn't celebrate, Lex's father came up with a scheme to bankrupt an old business rival. Sarah wasn't happy at the scheme, especially when it involved a girl who'd tried to break Lex and Sarah up a few months before they'd got married, but Lex went along with it, if only to placate his father. Victoria Hardwick was a bitch through and through, and she was insanely jealous of Lex's relationship with his wife. He'd made it clear to Victoria that he would never cheat on his wife. Ever.

Lex never kept any secrets from Sarah, and even though she made her disapproval of the scheme very clear, she did not stop him when he pretended to work together with Victoria in a plan to bring both their fathers down. Lex knew, of course, that Victoria was planning on double-crossing him, and through the scheme he acquired a laboratory which was on the verge of closure.

Christmas Eve was busy with the usual celebrations. Lionel might not like it, but Sarah loved Christmas and the mansion was decorated for the party they were having that evening. Lex had wanted to get Christmas trees shipped in, but Sarah enlisted some of the local people to help bring in a couple of trees. And she insisted that she and Lex go shopping for one more tree, which would be theirs and theirs alone.

The mansion was filled with the scent of pine as the decorations took shape. Lex dropped his briefcase in the hall and went looking for Sarah. The housekeeper told him she was in the den, putting her feet up.

Sarah smiled wearily at him as he came in. Her feet were propped on an ottoman and she was drinking herbal tea.

"Hi honey," she said. "I'm exhausted. I've been decorating all day."

"You sure you're not too tired for the party tonight?" he asked.

Sarah waved her hand. "I'll be fine. Come sit down," she said, patting the couch in invitation.

Lex could tell his wife was up to something, but he figured he'd indulge her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I have an early Christmas present for you," she said.

"I thought we weren't doing the present thing until tomorrow?"

"This one's special," she said, picking up an envelope from the table beside her. She handed it to him. "Open it."

He looked at her askance. "What are you up to?" he asked.

"Just open it," she said.

Lex opened the envelope and took out the slip of paper. Inside was what looked like an old black and white negative film, until he looked closer at it. On the edges of the film was her name, and in the centre was ...

Lex turned and stared wide-eyed at his wife. "You're ..."

"Yep. About eight weeks."

"We're ..."

"Having a baby," she beamed.

Lex was speechless. They'd talked about it, but he'd thought they would wait until Sarah finished her degree. But as he looked at the picture from the ultrasound he was hit by an incredible feeling of happiness.

When he thought about it, he realised Sarah had been showing symptoms for weeks, but she'd said nothing. She'd obviously wanted to wait until Christmas to tell him, which he loved. Anything else she was going to give him for Christmas would pale by comparison.

But then he started to worry. First that she wasn't eating right, and second that she might be overdoing things.

"Are you sure about having this party?" he asked.

"I'm fine, baby," she said, grinning at his obvious concern. "Don't worry."

Jonathan and Clark came in, just as Lex was rubbing her stomach, unable to believe that in a few short weeks he'd be able to feel a baby inside her.

"Hello," Jonathan said. "Martha baked some pies so we just came to drop them off."

"And some produce," Clark added.

Sarah beamed at them. "Thank you so much," she said.

Lex looked at her and she nodded. He turned to them.

"We want you to be the first to know. Sarah and I are having a baby."

Jonathan chuckled. "Well, congratulations son. That's wonderful news. When is it due?"

"Next summer," Sarah said.

"I can see Martha knitting a few baby things in the next few months," Jonathan laughed. "How are you feeling Sarah?"

"I feel great. Tired, but that's to be expected."

Clark turned to Lex with a huge grin on his face.

"Wow, Lex, that's awesome!"

Lex beamed back. "I know." He was going to be a father.

After the party, he and Sarah talked long and hard about their future plans. Sarah had clearly put a lot of consideration into what would happen once the baby came and she had already decided she would put off her final year until the baby was a year old.

"Honey, you know we could get a nanny," Lex suggested quietly.

"Yes, we could," she agreed, just as quietly. "But I want at least the first year to be nanny-free. When it comes time for me to go back to school, we'll talk about it then, but not before."

"You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?" Lex said wryly.

"Yup. I also plan on getting very fat. Especially if you keep buying me those bon bons I'm so fond of."

"So I like spoiling you," he grinned, unrepentant. "Is that so bad? You're going to be the mother of my child."

Sarah grinned back and nuzzled him as she put her arms around his neck. He kissed her.

"Not so bad," she told him. "Now, boy or girl?"

"Oh, girl, definitely."

"Why a girl?"

"Are you kidding? She would look so cute with red pigtails."

Lionel, of course, when he found out the news, wanted a boy. To carry on the Luthor name, of course. But he still wasn't fully accepting of Sarah.

"It's the twenty-first century, Dad," Lex told him. "Girls can inherit and be CEOs just like boys."

"But a girl can't carry on the Luthor name," Lionel insisted. "If she grows up and gets married ..."

"Then her name will be Luthor-Smith, or Smith-Luthor or whoever she decides to marry," Sarah said. She had kept her own surname as well as taking on Lex's.

"I don't like this new fashion for double-jointed names," Lionel grumbled, but he conceded the point.

As the baby grew inside Sarah, Lex found himself looking forward to the day he would hold his little girl in his arms. They had learned of the sex at Sarah's twenty-week scan and Lex was thrilled at having a daughter. Sarah had already suggested the name Lily for the baby, which Lex was more than happy to go along with.

Lionel was pushing Lex to return to Metropolis and work at Luthorcorp. Lex had done his time in Smallville, and made a success of it and Lionel had thought Lex was past his 'rebellion'. But Lex loved the town and he and Sarah wanted to bring their daughter up there.

Around May, Lionel, it appeared, had decided to step up his campaign to get Lex back to Metropolis. Sarah was seven months pregnant by that time and blooming. Lex now understood what all the books meant by a pregnant woman glowing because Sarah definitely had that expectant mother glow about her. She was close to completing her third year of her degree in education. Her fourth year would include a placement at a local school, but Lex was finally on board with her suggestion that she take a year off school to be with the baby.

Lionel and Sarah seemed to be getting along better. Lex wondered if it was because Sarah was pregnant, but he believed it was due to Sarah. She had charmed her way into his life and she was doing the same with Lionel. His father had admitted that in a lot of ways, Sarah reminded him of Lex's mother. She had the same strength of character. And Lex fell in love with her more and more.

But he was not happy when Lionel began trying to talk Sarah round into moving to Metropolis, and Lex wondered if Lionel wasn't using the new and fragile detente between himself and his daughter-in-law to try to manipulate Sarah into seeing things his way. Lionel had a tiger by the tail, though, Lex thought. Sarah had always lived life according to her own rules and expectations and not even acceptance from her father-in-law could change that.

Refusing to give up on the idea, Lionel chose to use another tactic. On a hot and windy day, just as summer was beginning, Lionel gathered all the Smallville plant employees together and announced the plant would be closing.

When Clark heard about the closure, he came to Lex, who was being comforted by his wife.

"You guys okay? We just heard."

"We're fine, Clark. Just having a hard time believing Lionel would do something like this," Sarah answered.

"What happened?"

Lex grimaced. "Well, the two theories seem to be that I either ran the plant into the ground through incompetence, or did it deliberately so I could go back to Metropolis. I'm afraid they're seeing me as the town pariah."

"No they don't," Sarah soothed. "They all know what Lionel's like."

"Besides, your friends don't think that about you," Clark told him. "And we're all well aware that Lionel offered you a job in Metropolis, which you turned down."

"Sure, that's maybe one percent of the population. What about the other ninety-nine percent?"

"Honey, self-pity isn't going to solve anything," Sarah said.

Lex turned on her. "What do you expect me to do? He's closed the plant. And I'm surprised they haven't come to the castle with pitchforks and torches already."

"You're being a little over-dramatic, don't you think?" she said with a little smile. "And you'll think of something. You always do."

Clark nodded. "You've done it before, remember? When your dad wanted you to cut twenty percent of your workforce? You didn't do what he wanted then."

Lex bit his lip, but both Clark and Sarah were right. He just had to think of a way out of this.

"Thanks for your faith. Please excuse us, Clark. We have a lot to think about."

Clark nodded.

"Thanks for stopping by, Clark. It means a lot."

Clark wasn't the only one who stopped by. Jonathan came by to drop off some estimates. He and Lex had been working on a way to improve the farm's productivity, without increasing the costs to the family.

"Lex, son, I know I haven't always been so friendly in the past, but I know what this is doing to you. I know what Lionel's like and you are not your father. Whatever happens, Martha and I will be there for you."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me. To both of us."

Jonathan glanced at the papers on Lex's desk. Lex had been working on an idea, but it depended on his finances. He'd saved quite a bit in the past few years, and despite Sarah's objections, he had ensured she had some shares in Luthorcorp in her name. Now, with her permission, he was going to use them, and his own assets in a scheme which he hoped would save the plant.

"You have a plan?"

"I'm working something out. I'm not quite sure how it will all come together yet, but ..."

"Well, if you need anything, you know where to come."

Lex nodded. Jonathan left him to it.

By mid-afternoon, Lex had a strategy that he knew would work and he gathered the senior employees together.

"I appreciate you coming. My father doesn't know about this meeting, and I'd like to keep it that way. Look, when I first came here, people assumed I was just another glaring example of nepotism; unskilled and promoted over the heads of the more competent and deserving. I'd like to think the people in this room feel differently. If we can raise the capital for an employee-led buyout, we can keep the plant running."

Gabe Sullivan stared at him. "Buyout?"

"I can raise nearly ninety percent of the capital."

Gabe was still frowning, as was another manager.

"What about the rest of us? Are we supposed to mortgage our houses?"

Sarah spoke up quietly. "We know it's a risk, but in return, investors will become minority owners."

"But your father controls the board," Gabe pointed out. "He's not going to go along with the buyout."

Lex shook his head. "I know what you're thinking, but there are a couple of board members I can convince. I don't need a unanimous decision. I'm offering you the chance to take control of your own destiny."

To his delight, the others were convinced enough to take the risk. Lex did as promised, talking to the board members and getting their promises, then he began making moves to liquidate his assets.

But it seemed Lionel was way ahead of him, announcing he'd taken over the Smallville Savings and Loan, where the majority of the new investors held their mortgages. He smugly informed Lex and Sarah that any missed payments would mean the men would be homeless.

"You know what he's doing," Sarah said, as soon as Lionel left the room. "He's just trying to psyche you into thinking he's won. He wants you to give in."

"I know. I won't let him," Lex assured her. "This is too important to the town."

Sarah grinned. "Admit it, you love this town."

Lex grinned back. "So sue me," he returned.

"I can think of something I'd like better," she answered, pulling him down for a kiss.

But a short time later, with a storm coming in, Lionel returned.

"You're using your mother's stock! It's a bold move, Lex, but it won't work."

"Did you brave the weather to tell me that?" Lex asked, glancing at the gathering storm clouds.

"It's suicide, Lex! You may get the plant, but you're putting your employee's homes on the line. Forfeiting your own future!"

Sarah, who had been elsewhere in the house, came in.

"What's with all the shouting?" she asked.

"Speak some sense into your husband," Lionel snapped at her.

"Why?"

"I'm not forfeiting my own future," Lex said, glaring at his father. "I'm forging a new destiny free from you!"

Lionel looked taken aback. "You're not my enemy. You're my son!"

"I never saw the distinction."

Sarah tried to intervene, but the two men looked ready for battle.

"Is this the kind of future you want for your own child, Lex?"

"At least she'll be free from your brand of parenting," Lex spat.

"When Alexander the Great was dying, his generals asked who he would leave his empire to. If he would appoint a successor, it would keep the legacy intact ... prevent generations of bloodshed. His answer was simple. Leave it to the strongest. Trust me, one day you will thank me for the things I have taught you."

Sarah glared at him. "Our daughter will know her parents love her," she said. "Whereas all you've ever taught Lex is that it's a weakness."

"There is no room for emotions in business."

"This is not just about business, Lionel. This is about family!"

Lionel ignored her and turned back to Lex. "I'll bury you and everyone in Smallville who takes your side," he growled. "I'll ..."

And suddenly the world exploded. Sarah screamed as something lifted her off her feet and tossed her aside. Lex was hit by a falling cabinet, blood pouring from a cut above his eye as he struggled to his feet. Lionel was pinned beneath a beam and Sarah ... god, Sarah was face down, unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

Lionel stared at him for a moment, then turned his head and saw Sarah. There was so much blood. His face seemed to reflect several emotions all at once as the awful truth dawned on him. Then Lionel's lips pursed as if he'd made a life-altering decision.

"No, Lex," he said, as Lex moved to help him. "Save the baby. Your legacy."

"Dad ..." Lex began.

There was an ominous creak. Lionel waved him away.

"Go. Save your daughter!"

Lex nodded dumbly and moved to Sarah's side, feeling for her heartbeat. It was faint, but there. He moved her away from the wall. Just as he did so, the rest of the beam collapsed, impaling Lionel through the chest.

"Dad! No!"

Torn between helping his critically injured wife and his father, Lex didn't know what to do. But he was too late. Lionel's eyes stared sightlessly back at him. He was gone.

Lex stumbled out of the room to find a phone, but the line was down. He grabbed his cellphone and prayed he would get a connection.

"911 emergency. Please state the nature of your emergency?"

"This is Lex Luthor," he said, his voice shaking. "My wife, my father, they're both hurt. My wife, she's pregnant. And I think ... I think my father ..." his voice broke.

"Sir, where are you calling from?"

"Uh ..." For a moment he forgot the address. "Uh ... 2116 ... uh ... Beres ... Beresford Rd. Please, hurry," he said. "I can't ... I can't ..."

"Sir, you need to stay calm. There are a lot of calls. It may take time."

"Damn you," he shouted. "This is my wife!" He took a deep breath. "Never mind. I'll get her there myself."

"Sir, you need to listen to me. It could be dangerous to move her right now."

"And I told you, she's pregnant!"

"I understand that, sir, but ..." There was a long pause and Lex wondered if the woman had hung up on him. But then she came back on the line. "The paramedics are on the way," she said finally. "They had another call in your area and they are able to attend."

"Thank you," Lex said, barely able to keep himself together.

It was an agonising wait for the ambulance, even though it was probably less than ten minutes. Lex watched the medics work on his wife, almost hyperventilating with anxiety. As gently as they could, they lifted her onto the stretcher.

"What about my father?" Lex asked.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do," the medic said sadly. "He's gone. You'll need to come with us and get that gash treated Mr Luthor."

Lex nodded. He followed them out, barely able to think straight.

As soon as they got to the hospital, Lex reluctantly watched as they took Sarah away. He was treated in the ER, the gash on his forehead quickly stitched up.

"What about my wife?" he asked.

"I'll see what I can find out," the doctor promised.

He was back in a few minutes.

"Mr Luthor, they have to fly your wife to Metropolis."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"They need to perform an emergency caesarean to save the baby. We don't have the facilities here for a preemie baby. Especially one at 32 weeks."

"What about Sarah?"

The doctor put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be honest with you, son. The news isn't good."

"No!" Lex said, the colour draining from his face. "Excuse me, I ... I need to make some calls."

Lex called every doctor he could think of even as the SMC staff led him to the rescue helicopter, which was taking Sarah to Met Gen. Within thirty minutes, they had touched down on the roof of the general hospital and Sarah was being rushed to surgery.

Darkness had fallen and Lex found himself drifting off into a doze, despite his best efforts to fight it. Part of him didn't want to sleep until he knew Sarah and the baby would be okay.

Shortly before midnight, Lex heard his cellphone ring.

"Lex Luthor."

"Lex?"

"Clark."

"Where are you? I went by the mansion to see if you were okay. I saw your dad, you ..."

"I'm at Met Gen," Lex said weakly. "Sarah was badly hurt, I ... I don't know if ..." He could hear a woman's voice in the background and presumed it was Martha. Then Jonathan came on the line.

"We're driving up tonight," he said. "You shouldn't be alone at a time like this."

"Jonathan, I ..."

Lex knew there was no arguing with the man. He ended the call and sat back, slipping almost immediately into a doze, only to be woken a short time later by a nurse shaking him.

"Sorry to wake you, Mr Luthor," she said softly, "but I thought you'd want to know your wife is out of surgery. The baby is fine. A little premature, but she's going to be just fine."

"Sarah?"

"I think you best speak to the doctors," she said.

Lex knew it was bad from the woman's expression. The nurse led him to the intensive care unit. Sarah lay in the bed, a respirator keeping her breathing. A doctor in surgical scrubs was checking her vitals.

"Doctor?" Lex asked. The man turned.

"Mr Luthor, I ..." He put a gentle hand on Lex's arm and led him from the room. "I'm not going to lie to you," he said quietly. "It isn't good. Sarah has massive internal injuries and I'm afraid that all we did was delay the inevitable."

Lex shook his head. "I'll find another doctor. I'll ..."

"Lex," the doctor said. "I'm sorry. I would rather be completely honest with you than give you false hope. There isn't a specialist in the world who can save her."

"No, you're ... you can't ..."

"I'm so sorry," the doctor said sympathetically. "You can stay with her until ... "

Lex didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to be told 'until the end'. He didn't want to say his goodbyes. He wanted his wife. She was the only woman he'd ever truly loved. Who'd loved him in return. They were going to be a family. Him, Sarah and Lily.

He kept vigil at her bedside, listening to the respirator. While there's life, there's hope. He hated that phrase. There was life, but there was no hope.

"Lex?"

For a moment he thought it had come from Sarah, but then he realised it was the wrong direction. He stood, looking at Martha. Her expression was sorrowful.

"Oh sweetheart," she cried, gathering him into her arms.

For the first time since his mother had died, Lex let the tears flow. Jonathan and Clark stood looking a little uncomfortable, not knowing what to say. But Lex let Martha hold him, soothing his tears.

He fell asleep in Martha's arms shortly before dawn, feeling like a lost little boy. And Sarah slept on.

Some time around mid-morning, Clark's friends, Chloe, Pete and Lana dropped by, having driven up from Smallville. Jonathan and Martha had offered their help and were talking to people in Luthorcorp, organising recovery of Lionel's body.

Chloe gave him a brief hug.

"Lex, I'm so sorry. Clark just told us about your dad. And ... and Sarah."

"Thank you, Chloe."

"Look, I know there's not a lot we can do, but if you need anything," she said.

Lex nodded. He turned back to his wife, full of a faint hope that she might just defy the doctors and come out of it. But he knew deep down they were right. She was slipping away. And he knew he had to let her go.

"Sarah," he whispered. "There's something you need to know. I've loved you from the first moment I saw you. You just boldly walked up to me, asked me to dance, and I knew. I knew my life would never be the same again. And I know I will never meet another girl like you."

He remembered once a song she'd tormented him with. They'd been bored one rainy afternoon, so he'd dug out some old movies. Sarah had always loved action movies rather than 'chick flicks', but he'd found one his mother had seen, not long before she'd passed away. In it, a young boy had sung to the girl of his dreams.

_You are my sunshine  
My only sunshine  
You make me happy  
When skies are gray  
You'll never know dear  
How much I love you  
Please don't take my sunshine away_

Lex's voice broke as he sang softly. Okay, so the song was corny as hell, he thought, and Sarah had sung it until he'd covered his ears, groaning 'no more'. But it was all he could think of.

He sang it, over and over, trying to keep the lump out of his throat, holding tightly to her hand. The blip on the heart monitor slowed. And for a moment, Sarah opened her eyes. She gazed at him with so much love that he knew she was saying goodbye. He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I love you," he whispered.

She closed her eyes and the sound on the monitor became one long beep. Lex stayed until the nurse came in to switch off the monitor and pulled the sheet up.

The next few days passed by in a blur. The Kents helped him organise both funerals, plus the receptions afterwards. Lex knew if it hadn't been for Jonathan and Martha's strength, he never would have survived those first few days.

After that came the legal issues. He was not the only heir to Luthorcorp. He found, to his shock, that he had a half-brother, named Lucas, who was, to all intents and purposes, a hood, and clearly not interested in the company. And there was a half-sister, Tess, who Lionel had also apparently been keeping tabs on. Tess was unaware of her new status until the will was read.

Lex was not sure what he wanted to do with the company. All he knew was that he had even more reason to hate the company that had given him a share of forty billion in combined assets.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with the company," Lex told the elder Kents late one night.

"Don't make any decisions just yet," Martha told him. "It's only been two weeks since the accident."

"That was no accident. That was an act of God." Lex sighed and shook his head. "What kind of God would take them both at the same time?"

"Son, don't keep doing this to yourself," Jonathan said quietly.

Why not, Lex told himself. If he had not listened to his father, Lionel would be alive. But then Sarah and the baby ...

"Stop blaming yourself, Lex," Martha told him. "You can't change what happened and even if you could, you could end up losing not just Sarah and your father, but the baby too. Lionel made his choice."

"I don't care about the baby!" Lex shouted. "I just want Sarah back."

His voice broke again and he knew he was close to bursting into tears. So unlike a Luthor. But he had loved her.

"Lex, I know you don't want to think about the baby, but Lily needs you. And how do you think Sarah would feel if you chose to turn your back on your daughter?"

"I ... you could take her. You could adopt her," Lex suggested.

"As much as we would love to have another child, Lex, Lily is yours. You and Sarah wanted to raise her together."

Lex knew they were right. He owed it to Sarah to try and make a go of this. To be the kind of father Sarah had known he could be. And he owed it to her to keep her memory alive through their daughter.

A month later, the doctors told him he could take his daughter home. As Lex began to carry her out in a baby capsule, accompanied by Chloe and Clark, a reporter approached him.

"Roger Nixon. Metropolis Inquisitor. What's your comment on rumours that Lionel's death was no accident?"

"I'd say get out of my face, Nixon," Lex said.

"Yeah," Chloe said, glowering at the man. "Lex just lost his wife and his father. Why don't you go find someone else who gives a rat's ass about your so-called rumours? Ever hear of tornadoes, you moron?"

"Chloe!" Clark admonished her.

"I'd ask you if you had any integrity, Nixon, but you're a journalist," Lex sneered. "Now get away from me. You're upsetting my daughter."

"I love a man who hides behind a baby," Nixon sneered back.

Lex barely kept his temper in check.

"Don't Lex," Clark warned, moving to protect his friend. He stood over Nixon, intimidation his intent. "I think you've said enough, Mr Nixon. Now leave before we call security."

"This doesn't end here, Luthor."

His words, it seemed, were prophetic. The story in the Inquisitor was full of conjecture and insinuation. Lex fumed. He had already called in Duncan to help him sue the paper for defamation, but the damage was done. Only those who knew him well didn't believe the story for a second. But there were others who thought there was something to Nixon's story.

Lex found himself pacing angrily one day at the Kent farmhouse.

"How am I supposed to protect Lily if people like Nixon ..."

"Lex, sweetheart, I know you want to be a good father, but you can't always be there. And it'll die down."

Lex shook his head. "No, I don't want Lily exposed to these sorts of lies. I can't." He sighed. "I've been thinking about the whole situation with Luthorcorp. I'm going to talk to Lucas and Tess, see if I can convince them to sell their shares."

"And then what?"

"Then I'm going to sell the majority of the company."

"You mean break it up?" Martha asked.

"I don't want any part of it," Lex told her. "The only parts I want to hold onto are the plant here and Cadmus. Sarah loved Smallville, and ... and I do too. But I can't stay here. There are too many memories associated with this town."

"Where will you go?"

"Duncan knows a guy who has family in England. I think between them they can talk the family into letting us stay for a while. Just until I can figure out what I want to do."

"You'd leave Smallville?"

"Martha, I'm sorry. I just can't stay. It hurts too much."

Jonathan clapped a warm hand on his shoulder. "You do what you have to do, son. Whatever makes you happy. When do you think this will happen?"

"I don't know. The probate on Dad's will could take months, and then there's selling the stock. Maybe early February?"

In the end, it was almost April before all the legal issues were sorted and Luthorcorp was no more. Tess and Lucas had agreed to sell their shares. While Lex would never really like Lucas, Tess was different. She was closer to Clark's age than Lex, at nineteen, and she had been surprised but eager to get to know her older brother.

Tess had taken a job as a marine biologist, having completed her studies at Harvard, working in Florida. Before he left for England, Lex promised to keep in touch with his sister.

Saying goodbye to the closest Lex had to family was difficult. Martha and Jonathan hugged him as he prepared to leave for the departure gate at Metropolis International Airport.

"Now promise me you'll write and tell us how you're doing," Martha said.

Lex nodded. He looked at his daughter, who was nestled in Clark's arms. She was nine months old and thriving. Lily looked the image of Sarah. Clark grinned down as Lily held out her chubby arms for her father and handed her over.

"Thank you," Lex said sincerely. "For everything. I don't know how I could have got through the past few months without your help."

"You're welcome, son," Jonathan said.

An announcement came over the airport address system and Jonathan looked up.

"Sounds like your flight," he said. "Go on. You don't want to miss it."

Lex went through the gate and turned to look at the Kents, sending them a weak smile. Then he turned and began walking through to security. It would be the last he'd see of any of them for the next thirteen years.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a long time since Lex had been inside a nightclub. He'd taken Sarah once, along with a friend, Amanda. Sarah had been less than approving of what he'd done that night, but she had agreed that it had been for the best. Neither one of them had wanted Amanda to marry Jude Royce. The man cheated on her at every turn.

Poor Amanda had been so devastated to have been shown the evidence right in front of her eyes. It was a good thing that a man who worked for Lionel had stopped Jude from killing them in anger.

But that was the past and Lex tried not to dwell on the past these days. As he walked through the Ace of Clubs, he wondered what Chloe looked like now. She'd always had a hairstyle which was uniquely hers and he'd rather liked the little flick in her hair.

The first time he'd met Chloe, he had decided to check out the high school and see if there was anything he could do for them in terms of a donation. Clark had mentioned in passing Chloe's obsession with the strange and unusual and he'd gone along to the Torch office to find out more.

They hadn't had a lot to do with each other, apart from dealing with the occasional meteor mutant, in the time he'd spent in Smallville. She'd been there when Sarah had died, of course, and she'd once interviewed him over an incident at the plant for an article for school, but he'd really only known her as a friend of Clark's.

Speaking of Clark, he thought, he really needed to go and see him. And Martha. He'd done his best to keep in touch with the family, but only through sporadic emails, and after a few years, he'd virtually stopped communicating with them, apart from a Christmas card every year.

"Lex?" a voice called.

He looked around, and there she was. Sitting at a table with a glass of what looked like orange juice. Or maybe vodka and orange.

"You came," she said, smiling.

He shrugged as he joined her.

"I figured I'd at least hear you out," he said.

Just when had Chloe become so beautiful? he wondered. She had to be at least twenty-eight now and there was a maturity about her face that he hadn't seen before. Then again, she had been a fresh-faced fifteen year old the last time he'd seen her.

Chloe was frowning at him.

"Forgive me," he said. "I was staring."

"Was there a reason for the stare?" she asked.

"You're beautiful."

Chloe blushed and looked away. Lex frowned at her.

"You don't believe me?"

"It's not something I hear very often. And the last guy who told me that cheated on me."

"I'm sorry. Sorry that he cheated on you. What happened?"

Chloe shrugged. "I guess I should have known better than to date a serial womaniser. Despite the fact that to all it appeared he'd cleaned up his act."

She seemed philosophical about it. Resigned even. Lex pursed his lips. He was curious to know who she had dated, but kept a lid on the curiosity. She would tell him if she wanted him to know.

"Well, if you want my opinion, the guy was an ass to let you go, never mind cheat on you in the first place."

"Noted." Chloe laughed. "You haven't changed much, Lex."

"Sarah had a way of bringing out the best in me, I suppose. And I'm nothing if not honest." He glanced up at the waitress, who asked for his order. "I'll have a mineral water please," he said.

"I'd like another screwdriver," Chloe asked the waitress.

As soon as the girl was gone, Chloe looked him over.

"You look good, Lex."

"You seem surprised."

"Well, to be honest, I expected you to look a lot ... um, older, I guess. But you look as if you've barely aged a day."

Lex had been testing a theory about that. He'd wondered why he wasn't showing his age, now that he was thirty-five. Lily had pointed out one of her teachers at her old school. A man who was the same age as her father. And he definitely showed his age.

Lex had been experimenting with a couple of meteor rocks he'd had brought over to England from Smallville and he'd learned the rocks had some amazing properties. Sure, they had caused some of the mutations he'd seen, but they also appeared to have some regenerative uses. In his case, at least. Which had to explain why he never got sick, aged at a slower rate and healed faster than normal.

"Good genes, I guess," he said modestly. "So, how does a girl from Smallville become a business reporter with the Daily Planet?"

Chloe smiled as she looked him over. He really did look good. Then again, he'd always been extremely good-looking. If it could be a word to describe a man, Lex was beautiful. He and Clark had both been the subject of much admiration in Smallville.

She considered how to explain how she'd got to this point. In high school, as an editor and reporter for the school's newspaper, the Torch, she'd often investigated incidents of what came to be known as Smallville's freakiness. But when she'd begun an internship at the Daily Planet during college, she had realised that this was the big leagues, and tales of meteor mutants just weren't going to cut the mustard.

She'd tried for three years to meet their expectations, taking on whatever story she could get her hands on. But with the endless round of ass kissing and trying to get ahead, when other, less experienced journalists, including her cousin, were promoted ahead of her, Chloe found her passion for the job waning. When Lana Lang, in an effort to get over yet another break-up with Clark, had decided to open up a counselling agency for meteor freaks, Chloe had offered to work with her.

But Lana's interest in it lasted about as long as her last effort with Clark. She left Metropolis three months later to give art school a try, since she'd never got her first opportunity in their senior year at high school. Chloe had been left to run Isis on her own, but found it hadn't been as fulfilling as she wanted.

Then Oliver had offered her the opportunity to become Watchtower and Chloe had jumped at it. Here was a role that let her use all her skills as a hacker. And it gave her just as much, if not more, satisfaction than pursuing stories that were, in most cases, bound to be taken off her and given to another reporter.

At the same time, her relationship with Oliver had grown from one of just friends to friends who occasionally slept together. She'd thought, then, that they were just in it for the casual sex, until Oliver had been captured when they'd been helping Clark beat Zod and the Kandorians. She'd realised that she was in love with Oliver, and thought he felt the same way about her.

Months later, she decided to return to her first love of reporting and had taken a job with the Star City Register. And she'd begun slowly rebuilding her career. She'd also moved in with Oliver.

Things had been great between them for a couple of years. They'd even talked about getting married. Until the night Chloe had seen Oliver while he'd been out patrolling. Chloe had been covering a charity event and had decided to go out on the balcony to get some air when she saw him. Or rather, them.

"Oliver," she whispered.

He was up on the roof of the building across from the hotel, in a clinch with a woman. And none other than Black Canary, by the look of it.

Angrily, Chloe gathered up her things and strode out of the hotel. She caught a cab back to the apartment they shared, throwing her purse on the dresser, then sat in the living room, waiting for him.

The door on the terrace opened just before one in the morning. Oliver was being quiet, but it didn't matter.

"Good patrol?" she asked, her voice even.

"Routine," Oliver told her as he opened the secret panel housing his Green Arrow gear and stripping off. "How was the charity thing?"

"How are they always?" she asked.

He glanced at her, frowning. She could tell from his expression that he knew something was off in her tone.

"How's Dinah?"

Chloe looked at him, keeping as much inflection out of her voice as possible. Oliver's frown deepened.

"What makes you think I've seen Dinah?" he asked.

"Let's see. How about the fact that I saw you with her tonight," she said. "Looking a little more than friendly, too, by what I did see."

"Now, hold on. Dinah and I ..."

"How long, Oliver?"

"Look, Dinah ..."

"Dinah isn't here, is she? So I can't ask her. How long have you been cheating on me?"

"Chloe ..."

"God, just answer the question! How long have you been seeing her behind my back?"

"Dinah and I, we're just friends."

"Friends?" Chloe laughed mirthlessly. "Friends kiss each other on the cheek. Friends hug. Friends don't French kiss each other. Have you slept with her?"

"No," Oliver admitted.

"But you want to, don't you?" she answered.

"Chloe ..."

"I don't want to hear it, Oliver," she said. "Tomorrow I will pack my things and I'll move into a hotel."

"You don't have to do that," he said quietly. "Chloe, we can talk about this."

"What is there to talk about? You just admitted you've been seeing someone else. You may not have slept with her, but there's still time."

Oliver ran a hand through his spiky blonde locks and glowered at her.

"You want to know why that is, Chloe? Ever since we came to Star City you've been so focused on your career to the detriment of everything else. Maybe I needed to get affection from someone else, because god knows I wasn't getting it at home."

Chloe stood, stretching herself to her full height. At five four, she was too petite to be intimidating, especially when Oliver was almost a foot taller than her, but she still tried.

"So now this is my fault? My god, Oliver! When you care about someone, you talk about what's bothering you. You don't go and suck face with someone else!"

"Look, it just happened, okay? I didn't mean for it to happen ..."

"It just 'happened'? These things don't just 'happen' Oliver. And you've known Dinah a long time. Or did you think I forgot about some emails which were supposed to be 'platonic'?"

"Well, no, of course not, I just ..."

"Forget it, Oliver. I don't want to hear any more. By rights, I should be kicking you out."

Looking back, Chloe realised that she had been neglecting Oliver. But still, it was no excuse. Lois and Clark had their problems too, but they talked about it. They didn't seek solace somewhere else, or with someone else.

She'd left him and Star City behind, returning to the Daily Planet as Metropolis was the only home she'd ever really known. And Clark and Lois were there.

The only opening Perry White had had for her was as a business reporter, since Lois and Clark were now the leading investigative journalists. Chloe saw it as an opportunity to make something her own and she'd attacked it with gusto.

Looking at Lex now, she sighed.

"It's complicated."

Lex nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

"Lex, I know how you feel about journalists. God knows, there are times when I feel ashamed of my own profession, but you need to realise that people will be curious about your return from England. Luthorcorp may be dead and buried, but people still remember the name. And they'll be wondering what you're doing back."

"I get that, Chloe. But I remember what it was like growing up. Sarah and I talked about it before Lily was born and we didn't want to expose her to that kind of life."

"I understand you want to protect your daughter, Lex, but there's such a thing as being over-protective. And I'm not Nixon. Who, by the way, lost his job not long after that story came out. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

Lex didn't answer that.

"But you have done your fair share of, shall we say, rule-breaking?"

Chloe nodded. "I don't deny that. But I never broke the rules unless I had a good reason. And I've grown up a lot since the Torch. Lex, this is newsworthy, and you know it is."

"Nevertheless, Chloe, my decision still stands. Please understand, this is nothing personal. Your reputation speaks for itself. You are a fine reporter and while I appreciate how important this story is to the paper, I can't allow it."

He started to get up, preparing to leave, but Chloe put out a hand.

"Lex, at least stay and finish your drink. I'd really like to know how you're doing. I mean, what have you been doing in the last thirteen years?"

Lex looked a little reluctant, but he nodded and sat down again.

"When I left Smallville, I decided to complete my graduate studies at Oxford," he said. "I earned a doctorate in biochemistry."

"So you're Doctor Lex Luthor?" she said.

"I suppose, technically, I would be," he said. "I knew of a professor in England who would disagree. He was of the opinion that the only doctors are MDs."

Chloe chuckled. "I imagine so. Then what?"

"I taught at under-graduate level for a while. Wrote a few papers which were published in a few scientific journals."

"And Lily? How was she?"

Lex smiled, taking on the expression of a proud father.

"Lily inherited my brains and her mother's gregariousness. She's an amazing kid, Chloe. Smart, beautiful, gentle. Everything her mother was and more."

"You still miss Sarah, don't you?" she asked softly, knowing from the way his expression softened that he did.

"I will always miss her, I think. I loved her."

Chloe put a hand on his, slightly surprised by the little tingle she felt when their hands connected.

"Everybody loved Sarah. But she only ever had eyes for you." She smiled. "God, I remember one day I walked into the Talon and she was helping out behind the counter. And we were just sitting there talking. I can't remember where Lana was. I think she might have been out with the flu or something. And ... oh, yeah, that was when Lana got infected by that Nicodemus flower. Anyway, you came in and her eyes just lit up when she saw you. No, her whole face lit up when she saw you. I kind of envied that, Lex."

Lex snickered.

"You know, she was only fifteen when we met. She just walked right up to me, bold as you please, and asked me to dance with her. And she wouldn't take no for an answer. That's the way she always was. And I could come home after a long day at the plant and she'd be there waiting for me. Just her smile could take the stress out of the whole day."

"She was a wonderful woman, Lex. You were lucky to have found each other."

Lex nodded and leaned back in his chair.

"So tell me about Clark."

"You haven't talked to him? You two were so close when you lived in Smallville."

"Yeah, I know. But after everything that happened, it was just too much of a reminder. I emailed a few times, but, we just lost touch."

"Clark's married now," Chloe said. "To my cousin, in fact."

Lex cocked an eyebrow at her. "I always thought it would be Lana he'd end up marrying."

Chloe nodded. "Believe me, we all thought the same thing. Guess they just weren't meant to be. They tried to make a go of it, but there were things which kept them apart."

"So how did he meet your cousin?"

"Well, see Clark, uh, got into some trouble with a crime boss here in Metropolis. Kind of a long story, but it turned out this guy, Morgan Edge ..."

"Was he the one who apparently worked with my father and killed my grandparents?"

Chloe looked at him. "You knew about that?"

"I did keep an eye on any news from Metropolis. And Tess emailed me about it when it happened. It was big news, even in England."

Chloe had been a major part of that story when it broke. When Clark had learned some revelations about the Luthor family, he'd come to her with the information and together they'd begun investigating, discovering that Lionel Luthor had plotted to kill his own parents, along with Edge. For her trouble, Edge had sent his goons to first threaten her and Clark, then try to kill her in an explosion. Fortunately for her, the agents assigned to her had suspected something might happen and had ensured she got out before the explosion occurred, faking her death.

"Anyway, Lois came to town looking for me, believing I was dead and ran into Clark. They drove each other nuts for a couple of years, then Lois got a job for the Inquisitor, and moved on to the Daily Planet. Clark got a job there a year later and they've been together ever since. They have two kids now, too."

"Wow! So Clark's a father."

Chloe nodded. She loved her friend, now cousin by marriage, dearly.

"And how is Martha?" Lex asked. "I heard she became a US Senator after Jonathan died."

"Yeah. You know Martha. She was always more than just a farmer's wife."

"Martha Kent is an incredible woman. If I've missed anyone since I left Smallville, it's her and Clark. I do feel bad, for not having kept in touch as often as I promised, but ..."

"Martha understood you were busy, Lex. And she knows how hard it was for you after Sarah died."

Lex nodded. "I should go," he said. "I have to be up early tomorrow. I still have a few things to organise, like enrolling Lily in school and getting Cadmus re-organised. It was good to see you Chloe."

Chloe smiled. "Well, don't be a stranger, Lex." She grabbed her bag and pulled out a couple of cards. "Here's my direct number at the Planet. And here's Clark's. Give him a call. I bet he'll be happy to hear from you."

Lex returned the smile. "Thanks. It would be good to catch up with him."

Chloe watched him leave, sitting back in her chair. Wow, she thought. He's even better looking than I remembered.


	7. Chapter 7

_NOTE: Oliver does not come off very well in this chapter. The Oliver in this story is more the comics Green Arrow than Smallville._

It was after eight thirty by the time Chloe turned the key in the lock of her apartment. She dumped her bag, keys and a grocery sack on the counter, distracted by the flashing light on the answering machine. Touching a manicured finger to the button, she heard the angry tone of her last caller.

"Damn it, Chloe, where the hell are you? You don't answer your cellphone, they said you'd left work nearly two hours ago ..."

Chloe cut off the message before she could hear the rest of his rant and picked up the cordless phone, dialling the familiar number while she unpacked the groceries.

"Chloe, where the hell have you been?" he berated her. "I've been calling for over an hour."

Chloe seriously doubted that, but she let him have it.

"Sorry, something I had to do for work. What's wrong?"

"You can ask me that, when ... I tried calling you last night too."

"Well, gee, sorry Oliver, but I only got home this time last night and I crashed."

"Fine, whatever. There's someone here who wants to talk to you."

She heard Oliver moving through the house and opening a door.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, baby, it's me."

"I miss you mommy."

Chloe's heart melted at the sound of two year old Connor's voice. She hadn't known she was pregnant when she'd left Oliver and Star City behind. By the time her son had been born, she had been well on the way to carving a niche for herself in the world of business journalism. With three months' parental leave, she had some serious catching up to do when she returned to work, which also meant a lot of time with her son had to be sacrificed.

Oliver hadn't been that thrilled when he'd learned he was going to be a father. He'd still been smarting over the way she had walked out on him. While Clark and Lois had thought Oliver was also being totally selfish in the way he had chosen to deal with the situation, Chloe had not been surprised. And she had agreed with him in part. His work as Green Arrow, not to mention his business left little time for him to spend with his son.

When she'd been asked to attend the conference, and knowing how important it was to her career, Chloe had begged Oliver to take Connor for the two weeks she was away. Clark and Lois would have gladly taken care of Connor for those two weeks, but they already had their hands full with their own two bundles of mischief, and Chloe wanted to give Oliver the chance to bond with the little boy. She knew what it was like to have an absentee parent and she didn't want that for Connor.

Chloe chatted a little while with her son, promising he would be home with her soon. She missed him terribly, but with work being so crazy she had no choice but to wait until her day off before she could get him back. At least he was with his father, she thought.

Oliver came back on the line.

"Listen, uh, I can have Connor back by Saturday." he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my attorney will be in Metropolis, for a meeting. I could send Connor with him."

"You wouldn't come with him?"

"I have too much to do here in Star City."

"Oliver, he's two years old!"

"And he'll be fine with the attorney. Look, it's just more convenient for me this way."

"Well, I'd hate to inconvenience you!" she practically snarled back at him.

"Why do you have to be so hostile? I'm doing you a favour. I could have said no, you know."

"Why would you? He is your son too."

"Fine! Whatever!"

Chloe hung up, fuming at Oliver's attitude. She got that he was still angry at her for walking out on their relationship, but she hoped he wasn't taking it out on Connor.

The apartment was quiet when Lex returned home.

"Lily?"

"In here, Dad," his daughter called from the living room.

He put his key down on the table in the hallway and went into the living room, sitting on the couch. Lily turned from the television and smiled at him.

"How did your date go?" she asked.

"It wasn't a date, Lily."

"Whatever. How'd it go?"

"It was fine. I caught up on a few things."

"That's good."

"What are you watching?" he asked.

"I don't know. Some lame show. It's boring."

"So why are you watching it then?" he said, amused.

"Just channel surfing."

"Tomorrow we'll go talk to the school and get you enrolled." Lily made a face.

"I'm not going to have to wear a uniform or anything, am I?"

"This won't be like public school in the UK, honey. You'll be in junior high. And they don't have uniforms."

"Oh. Cool!"

"Then I need to go to the lab. Do you want to come along, or ..."

"Do I have to?"

Lex smirked at the look on his daughter's face. The one thing she hadn't inherited from him was a love of science. And unlike his father before him, he wasn't about to force her to do something she didn't want to do.

"No, honey, you don't have to come."

"Can I go to the mall? I'll need to get some clothes for school anyway."

How did he know that would come up? For all her maturity, Lily was still a typical teenage girl who loved to shop.

"Fine. I'll give you my debit card. But remember the limit on it. Once you've spent that, there'll be no more." There was only five hundred dollars on the card. He was sure she couldn't spend all that in one day. Then again, she had managed to rack up over a thousand in one sitting.

"Geez, Dad, I only did that once," she said when he reminded her.

He fished the card out of his wallet. "School clothes only, Lily. And nothing, uh, what's the word?"

"Skanky?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Please, Dad, I do know how to dress like a normal person." She looked him over critically. "You know, you might want to think about updating your image."

Lex looked down at his long-sleeved shirt and tailored pants.

"What's wrong with what I wear?"

"Nothing. For the nineties."

"Are you saying I'm old fashioned?"

Lily got up from the armchair and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek.

"No, Daddy, I wouldn't dream of it. I'm gonna get a snack. Want anything?" she asked as she wandered through into the kitchen.

"You just had dinner two hours ago," he protested.

"I'm a growing kid," she answered, sounding like she was rummaging through the cupboards. "You know, it's a good thing you had Aunt Tess organise all this before we got here otherwise we wouldn't have any food."

He heard the beeps of the microwave.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"No offence, Dad, but when it comes to domestic stuff, you're kind of disorganised."

"Am not," he muttered.

Lily came back in with a bowl of popcorn, grinning at him.

"You are, you know. I mean, it's okay. You kinda get caught up in work and you forget about stuff like buying groceries, and you know, housework."

She had a point. They'd had a modest house in London and it always seemed to be untidy. Lex had a bad habit of getting too involved in whatever he was working on and forgetting to put things back where he found them. Sarah had been always lecturing him about his absentmindedness, especially when he forgot to eat.

"Remind me to call your aunt and thank her," Lex told his daughter as she settled back into the armchair with her popcorn. "And speaking of work ..." He got up from the couch and turned to go to his office.

"Don't stay up too late," Lily told him.

Lex snickered. Sometimes his daughter sounded too much like her mother.

The meeting with the school principal the next morning was just as Lex was expecting. The woman seemed only too happy for Lily to start the next week.

"I've read your daughter's transcripts from her school in England and the reports are all glowing."

"Thank you, Mrs Marshall. So she can start on Monday?"

The older woman nodded, then glanced at Lily. "Looking forward to it?" she asked the teen.

Lily nodded. Lex smiled at his daughter. Lily loved school. She not only excelled academically, but she was extremely popular. She was looking forward to meeting new friends. Lex knew he could have let her skip a few grades, but he didn't want his daughter growing up too fast. She was already more mature than most children her age.

It was almost lunchtime when they left the school. Lex was going to drop his daughter off at the mall.

"So you're going straight to the lab?" she asked. "What about lunch?"

"I'll grab something on the way."

"Dad, you'll forget to eat," Lily admonished him.

"Will not."

"Will too," she told him. "Come have lunch with me at the mall."

Lex grimaced. "Mall food? Lily ..."

"Come on, Dad. One plate of sweet n sour chicken, or whatever, from the foodcourt in the mall isn't going to kill you. It's not like you can get sick from food poisoning."

"That's not the point, Lily. It's unhygienic."

"Didn't you ever eat at the mall when you were my age?"

"Considering I was at boarding school when I was your age, Lily, I highly doubt it."

"C'mon," Lily wheedled. "At least I'll know you're eating something."

Lex sighed heavily and found a car park, letting his daughter pull him out of the car and into the mall. She'd obviously done a little research on the mall on the 'net as she seemed to know exactly where she was going.

As soon as Lex stepped into the busy shopping centre, he was conscious of the stares from other people shopping. Lily held onto his hand, dragging him reluctantly toward the busy foodcourt.

"Ignore them, Dad," she said, knowing exactly why he was uncomfortable. He did tend to stand out from the crowd. And there had been a story in the Inquisitor about his return to Metropolis.

Lex sighed again and looked around. There were a few fast food places, including a McDonald's. He'd never set foot in the restaurant in his life and he wasn't about to start now.

"Look, Dad, there's a Chinese place just over there."

"Lily, I'm ..."

"Dad, it's just one lunch. The world isn't going to end because you go against the rules for once."

"What rules?" he asked.

She grinned cheekily at him.

"The more expensive it is, the better the quality. Lex Luthor's rules of fine dining. You know, just because something's expensive, it doesn't make it any better than the cheap stuff."

"I think we'd have to agree to disagree on that," he said, watching as she got in line, grabbing two plates. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into line. "We could have gone to a restaurant."

"And miss all the fun? Anyway, I remember the last time we were in a restaurant. You had a fight with the manager over the bad service."

"I did not have a fight with the manager. And the service was bad. I was not expecting to wait over half an hour for the meal."

"Okay, Dad, point taken." She pointed to some rice and stir-fried vegetables. "Here, grab some of those."

Lex sent his daughter a withering look.

"You live to torture me, don't you?"

"I'm your kid. It's kind of my job." She grinned as they found a table. "Just be glad I don't make you take me shopping."

"God forbid," Lex groaned.

As a meal went, it wasn't as bad as Lex had feared. Certainly not as greasy as he'd always believed, but Lex would still prefer to have eaten in a restaurant. Lily just grinned at him as she scarfed down her food.

"Lily, slow down," he told her.

"Too much to do, so little time. How long will you be at the lab for?"

"A couple of hours."

"Okay, I'll text you after a couple of hours. I'd hate for you to forget to pick me up."

"When have I ever done that?" he asked his daughter.

"There's always a first time." She pushed her plate away. "Ugh, I'm full."

"I'm not surprised with the way you inhaled that. You know, you remind me of a friend of mine. He came to dinner a few times and your mom used to think it was hilarious the way he would eat."

"Is that Clark? The friend?"

Lex nodded. "That's him."

"Is he the guy that works as a reporter for the Daily Planet? Looks kind of uptight and nerdy?"

"Well, I wouldn't know about that. I haven't seen Clark since I left."

"Maybe you should give him a call. Invite him round for supper."

"You know, Chloe said the same thing. Maybe I will."

"So, what's Chloe like? Is she pretty like Mama was?"

Lex looked at his daughter. "I have to admit that when I first knew Chloe I thought she was cute. But not as beautiful as your mom."

"Yeah, but you would have been kind of biased back then," Lily pointed out.

"True. But the Chloe I met last night ... she's much more mature in her looks. You know, some people look better the older they are, and the same is true for Chloe."

"So she's pretty?"

"More than that."

"Is she single?"

"What is this? The Dating Game? I'm not going to go out with a woman just because I like the way she looks."

"Aw, come on, Dad, it's not like you're, you know, over forty where it would just be kind of gross. And it's not healthy to be alone. I mean, how many dates have you been on since you had me?"

Lex chewed on his lip. There hadn't been many dates at all, when he thought about it. And most of those had been due to social obligations. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually asked a woman out.

"I refuse to take dating advice from my thirteen year old daughter," he commented. "Considering you're not even old enough to start dating yet."

Lily snorted. "If you had your way, I wouldn't be dating until I had crows' feet."

"Careful, Lily, or I could ground you until you're ninety."

"Like to see you try," she muttered.

Lex finished his meal and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"On that note, I better get to the lab. I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Sure Dad. See you later."


	8. Chapter 8

Lex spent an hour or so getting to know the staff at Cadmus Labs and finalising some of the paperwork necessary to complete the proposed changes to the labs. Much of the staff, while curious about their boss, who most had never actually met, since they'd been hired long after Lex had left for England, appeared to be unsettled. Lex could understand. He was proposing major changes and much like himself, they were people who didn't like change.

He hoped that most of what he had in mind would go through without too much fuss. He planned on making Cadmus one of the country's leading centres for research and development.

And who knew what breakthroughs they'd make in the areas of health. Especially in the area of respiratory diseases. His own history of childhood asthma had given him the drive to come up with if not a cure, then at least a better way of managing it.

He was also wanting to get into more indepth study of the meteor rocks. His work in England had left him little time to get too deeply into it and he had to admit his curiosity was piqued about their mutagenic effects.

Lex glanced at his watch as he sat in his newly appointed office. He had to leave to pick up Lily in a few minutes. He just had time for a phone call.

Looking around the office, he frowned. Where had he put that card? He checked the pockets of his jacket. Not there either. He really needed to get himself a day planner, or an address book so he had somewhere to store numbers that he didn't need daily on his phone. He got up from his desk and went out.

"Uh, Mikki?"

And god, what kind of name was Mikki, he thought. Was it short for Michelle?

"Yes sir?" his assistant said, looking up at him over her glasses. "Is there something you need?"

"What's the number for the Daily Planet?"

"Would you like me to put a call through for you?" she asked politely.

"Uh, thanks."

"Is there anyone I should ask for?"

"Clark Kent."

"What would you like me to say it's about?" she asked, sounding as if she was trying to be efficient.

"It's personal," he told her.

She nodded and picked up the phone, dialling the number which was clearly familiar to her.

"Yes, Clark Kent's office please." She paused. "Lex Luthor." Lex waited, desperately wanting to do something with his hands just to shake off the nervous tension he was feeling. Mikki looked up at him. Then she looked back down at the desk.

"Is Mr Kent available?" she asked. "Oh, I see. Yes, I'll put him through." She looked back up at him, covering the mouthpiece. "It's his wife. She said she'll speak with you. I'll put it through on line one."

Lex returned to his office, frowning at the phone. He had spent a lot of the past thirteen years working without an assistant, and he hadn't needed different phone lines. Now he had no idea what to do when the buttons flashed.

"Press the one," Mikki shouted from the outer office.

"Right," he muttered, jabbing the button.

"Back in the country less than two days and you're already making waves," Lois Lane-Kent chuckled.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

"Your assistant sounded a little pissed at you," Lois answered.

"I'm not used to having an assistant," he muttered. "It's been a while."

"I imagine so. Sorry, Clark isn't here. Our son is sick so he's taken a couple of hours off to take him to the paediatrician. But he'll be sorry he missed you."

"Is it anything serious?" Lex asked.

"No. Just a raging temperature. I'm sure he's fine."

"Yeah, kids are like that sometimes. How old is he? Your son?"

"He's two, going on twenty."

Lex laughed at the sarcasm in her voice. "My daughter was the same at that age. Wait until he hits puberty. Then it'll be ten times worse."

"Let's hope I don't strangle the poor kid by then," Lois laughed. "Look, I know Clark is dying to see you. Why don't you come over for a drink tonight? It will give you and Clark a chance to catch up."

Lex grabbed a notepad and pencil from the holder on the desk.

"I'd like that. What's your address? Uh, that is, you're not living at the farm, I take it?"

"No, we're not. It's a hell of a commute." She gave a midtown address. "So we'll see you about six? Oh, are you bringing your daughter?"

"If that's all right."

"Of course it is. Clark's told me all about her. I'd love to meet her.

His cellphone beeped and he glanced at the screen.

_Yo, absent-minded professor! Drop what you're doing and come get me. L._

Lex chuckled to himself. "I better go," he said. "Lily just sent me a text reminding me to pick her up. I'll see you at six then."

He hung up, grabbing his keys and his jacket and headed out.

"Thank you Mikki. I'll be meeting with my attorney tomorrow morning to finalise all the legal paperwork, then I'll see you bright and early Monday morning."

"Sure boss," she said.

Lily was waiting for him at the mall entrance. She had several bags in hand.

"What did you do? Buy out the entire mall?"

"Funny, Dad. Just jeans and stuff."

"So do I actually have any money left or do I need to declare bankruptcy?"

Lily glowered at him. "What did you do at that lab? Get a funny bone transplant?"

"What? I can't be in a good mood?" he asked as he pulled out into the traffic.

His daughter looked at him askance.

"Okay, fine, fine, fine. So, how were things at the lab?"

"The staff don't seem all that happy about the proposed changes."

"Yeah, well geeks never like change. They like stability."

"They are not geeks. They just happen to be people with brilliant minds."

"Geeks and nerds."

"Watch it, young lady."

"Oh Dad, don't you know anything? Geeks are in. I mean," she added, looking sideways at him, "not that I'd want to, you know, date one. I'd rather date a guy with a Harley."

Lex growled. "Lillian Marie Luthor ..."

"I'm kidding, Dad. Geez!"

He rolled his eyes. He loved his daughter. He really did. But there were times when he would have taken great pleasure in throttling her.

"Well, you better be on your best behaviour tonight," he said.

"Why? What's up?"

"We're going to pay a visit to an old friend."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrow. "Who?"

"Clark Kent. And his wife."

Lily shrugged. "Do I have to go?" she asked, with a hint of a whine.'

"Yes, Lily, you have to. And I mean it. Behave yourself or I'll cut your allowance."

His daughter gave a dramatic sigh.

"Considering the paltry sum you pay me now, I don't think it's much of a loss."

If there was one thing he and Sarah had always agreed on, it was that their kids would learn the value of money. Just because they were well-off, it didn't mean they could spend money like it was going out of style. Lily still got more money in her weekly allowance than the average teenager, from what Lex could tell, but considerably less than other children with wealthy parents. And she still had to earn it by doing chores.

Lex sighed, shaking his head as he pulled into the underground parking of their apartment building. His daughter seemed to be in a strange mood. As he got out, he looked at his daughter.

"Lily ..."

"I promise, okay?" she said. "Geez, get off my case!"

It was so typical of a teenager to go from a good mood one minute to a recalcitrant mood the next. But it was just so unlike his daughter. They'd always been fairly close and she had never been a problem child. Her bright, gregarious nature, while the complete opposite of his more diffident one, had meant she was less prone to the moodiness that was more common for kids her age.

As he opened the door to the apartment, he took Lily's bags and put them down on the dining table.

"Lily, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said sulkily.

"Honey ..."

"I just don't want to go visit some guy I've never met."

"You have met him honey. You just don't remember. He was there when you were a baby. And Clark and I were friends. He's a good man."

"He might have changed since you knew him."

Lex shook his head. "No. Clark was the kind of person who would turn down a brand new truck. And I sincerely doubt he has changed that much."

"He what?" she asked. "When was this?"

"It was long before you were born, Lily. Clark saved me from drowning and I bought him a truck to thank him. He was only about a year older than you are now."

"Whoa! Really?"

"Really," he confirmed. "So what's the real problem?" he asked, knowing his daughter wasn't usually so shy with strangers. In fact he had a harder time meeting new people than she did.

"There were these kids at the mall. They were kinda being dickheads. They saw me with you and started saying all sorts of things."

"Like what?"

"You really don't wanna know Dad."

Lex could imagine. He gathered his daughter in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Honey, I know these kids upset you, but just ignore them."

Lily pulled away and went to the fridge, pulling out a pitcher of juice. Lex stood at the counter, watching her as she took two glasses from the cupboard.

"You know, before I met your mom, there were a lot of things that kids used to say to me that could be upsetting."

"Like what?" she asked, pouring some juice into the glasses.

"Well, imagine what it was like for me, being bald at nine years old. Some people just thought I'd had cancer, but then the hair didn't grow back. Your grandmother used to tell people it was a rare form of alopecia."

"How did you handle it?"

"Not very well, I'm afraid. I used to think that all the kids at my school hated me. And on my twelfth birthday, your grandfather made sure I invited every kid in my class to my birthday party."

"That sounds kind of cool."

"It wasn't," he said, taking the glass of juice she handed him and sitting down on a bar stool. "No one came to the party."

Lily winced. "I'm sorry."

Lex shrugged. "I used to think my baldness was a curse, but then it became a blessing. But not until after I met your mom. Anyway, your grandfather told me that I had to make a choice. I could choose to act weak in front of my peers and let myself be bullied, or I could act strong and tell myself I was better than them."

"Did it work?"

"Not really," he said. "I recall there was one boy in my class. Oliver. And he was always bullying kids he thought were weaker than him."

Lily growled. "If I ever met this guy, I'd wanna punch him in the nose."

Lex chuckled. "Yeah, your mom felt the same way."

"Mama knew him?"

"Well, that's how your mom and I met. We were at a party and she approached me and asked me to dance. Then Oliver tried to cut in and your mother stomped on his foot. I don't think he ever recovered from that."

Lily was laughing. "That must have been so cool!"

"That was your mom," he smiled. "She taught me so much."

"She sounds like she was amazing. I can't believe you never told me this story."

"Well, you're a lot like her honey. And you never asked before."

"You still miss her, don't you?" Lily asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I do. But your mom would be the first one to tell me I need to move on."

"Is that why you decided to come back and take over the lab?"

"That and there is a project I want to undertake which is better done here."

"Oh." Lily looked thoughtful. "I'm sorry Dad."

"For what?"

"Being so crabby. It's just ... those kids. I mean, back home, uh, in England, they didn't really care what my name was. And half the girls in my class kinda had a crush on you. Which, eww, by the way, but it feels different here."

"Well, I think a lot of people still remember Luthorcorp. You have to remember that your grandfather did a lot of things that upset a lot of people. Just keep telling yourself that I'm not your grandfather. People will come around. They just need time to get to know us, that's all."

Lily came around the counter and hugged him.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Dad. I think I'm gonna go watch a movie." She grabbed a bag of potato chips and started for the living room.

"All right. But we have to be at the Kents' at six, so we'll have to leave here by about five-thirty."

At six on the dot, Lex walked up to the front entrance of a two-storey brownstone. The building appeared to be about fifty or sixty years old, well-kept, with flower boxes just below the windows which looked as if they had been freshly painted.

Lex pressed the buzzer, wondering why he was feeling so nervous. Lily was holding his hand as they waited on the steps.

Then the front door opened and it almost felt as if Lex had stepped back in time. For there was Clark, dressed in a blue and black plaid shirt and jeans. But of course, a lot of things had changed about Clark Kent. He was taller than Lex remembered, towering over him and he was more muscular.

"Whoa!" Lily said. "You're huge!"

Lex nudged his daughter. "Lily!" He looked apologetically at Clark. "Clearly my daughter has yet to learn the value of diplomacy."

Clark just laughed. "I get that a lot. Hi Lex, you haven't changed a bit! And Lily, you look as beautiful as your mother did."

Lily grinned, already won over.

"My dad tells me that all the time," she said, rolling her eyes, pretending annoyance.

"Come on in. The place is a bit of a mess at the moment. We haven't been home long and, well, you know what it's like with kids."

Lex followed his friend inside. He had barely stepped through the second set of doors when he was set upon by a miniature version of Clark.

"Well, hey there," he said, bending down to the little boy. "What's your name?"

Clark picked up his son.

"Jonny, say hello to Mr Luthor."

"Hewwo," Jonny said, sucking on his fingers.

"And this is Lily," Clark told him. "Where's your mom?"

Jonny gurgled something which Lex took to mean his mother was upstairs with the baby. Clark led the way into the living room, which rivalled the Kent family farmhouse for neatness.

And Clark had said this was messy? He'd obviously been trained well.

Lily stepped closer to him and whispered in his ear.

"Dad, you got something on your pants."

Lex looked down and noticed something sticky in almost the shape of a child's hand. Clark seemed to notice as well.

"Jonny, what have you got on your hand?" he asked.

"Nothin'," Jonny said. But he looked guilty.

With a sigh, Clark canted his head at the two of them.

"We'll be right back. Do you want me to get something for your pants?"

Lex shook his head. "No, it's okay. Trust me, I've been there."

"Why? What did I do?" Lily asked.

"What didn't you do?" her father retorted. "Spit up on me, get baby food in your hair, chocolate cake all over your face, not to mention my clothes, splash me when you were in the bath ..."

"Okay, okay, geez!"

Clark grinned. "I'll be back as soon as I get this little monster cleaned up."

He disappeared into what Lex presumed was the kitchen. Lex took the time to look around and saw a wedding photo above the mantelpiece. So this must be Lois, he thought. She was certainly a beautiful woman. And there was Chloe, right beside Lois, wearing a bridesmaids dress in dark turquoise. Her hair was in the short style she seemed to prefer, but less of the flippy style she had used back in high school. She really had matured into a very beautiful woman.

"Who's that, Dad?"

"Which one, honey?" he asked.

"The blonde. Next to Lois."

"That is Chloe."

"The reporter you had the date with last night?"

"It wasn't a date, Lily. It was business."

"Still, she's really pretty. You should ask her out. On a real date, I mean."

"Matchmaking Lily?" he said with a chuckle.

"Well, you can't be the mad scientist all the time, Dad. You gotta get out more."

Lex heard steps on the stairs and turned to see Lois walking slowly down the stairs with a baby in her arms.

"Hi, no prizes for guessing you're Lex," she smiled.

"Hello, Lois. It's very nice to meet you."

Lois came forward and took his hand, shaking it. Lily quickly made her presence known by pressing forward and grabbing Lois' hand to shake it enthusiastically. The brunette grinned.

"You must be Lily."

"Yup, that's me!"

"This is our daughter, Lara," Lois said, indicating the baby in her arms.

"She's beautiful," Lily piped up before her father could speak.

Clark came out of the kitchen with Jon supported by one arm and a bottle in the other. He kissed his wife, then handed her the bottle.

"I see you've introduced yourselves," he said. He put Jon down in what looked like a playpen. The little boy protested but soon occupied himself with a toy truck, making truck noises. "Can I get you a drink Lex?"

"That would be great. What do you have?"

"We have wine. Or juice? The wine's probably not what you were used to drinking back in Smallville, but it's fine."

"A glass of wine would be nice, thank you." Lex glanced at his daughter.

"May I have some juice please?" Lily asked politely.

"Of course," Clark smiled. "I'll just get the drinks. Honey? Wine or juice?"

"Wine please Smallville," Lois answered.

"Smallville?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, that's his nickname."

"Usually she only calls me that if I'm in trouble," Clark laughed.

"Which is often," Lois said smartly.

Lex sat down, watching as Lois made herself comfortable in her armchair with her daughter in her lap, giving her the bottle. Lara began to drink noisily.

"Your daughter looks like you," he remarked.

"Yeah. And Jonny takes after his father," she said with a grimace.

"I take that to mean he's constantly into mischief," Lex grinned. Lily had wandered over to the playpen and was playing with one of the toys the little boy had already scattered on the floor.

"Heh, I guess you'd know all about that."

"I could tell you stories," Lex answered.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Daaaaad!"

Clark returned with the drinks, balancing three glasses of white wine in one hand, and a glass of orange juice in the other then handing the drinks out. Lex sipped the wine. It wasn't an expensive wine, but it tasted all right.

"So Chloe tells me you're a doctor now," Clark said as he sat down in the armchair next to Lois'.

Lex nodded. "Biochem."

"Why did you decide to come back to Metropolis?" Lois asked. "If you don't mind my asking."

"I don't mind. I just felt it was time." He looked at Clark. "I'm so sorry about your father. Jonathan was a good man. It was a shock to hear of his passing."

Clark nodded. "Thank you. And Mom appreciated the flowers and the card."

"I'm sorry we lost touch. After everything that happened, with Sarah and, well ..."

Clark shook his head. "We understood Lex. Losing Sarah was hard for you. But it looks like England was good for you. For both of you." He sipped his wine. "So what are you planning on doing at Cadmus? There's talk of some restructuring."

"Yeah, there will be, but I'm hoping to add some new divisions. And I want to dedicate at least some of my time to studying the meteor rock."

Clark suddenly looked uneasy.

"Meteor rock? Why? I mean, you know what happened in Smallville. Meteor rocks changed people."

Lex nodded. "Yes. They changed me, too. I just want to know more about them."

He studied Clark's expression, noting the way Clark looked at his wife. Why did he get the feeling Clark was not at all happy about this?


	9. Chapter 9

Lily had become bored with playing with the baby toys and was watching Lois curiously. Lois had put the bottle on the table beside her and had sat the baby on her lap, rubbing her back while she drank her wine.

"Can I ask you something?" Lily asked.

Lois frowned slightly but nodded. "Sure. Ask away."

"Well, we had this thing in school where we were talking about babies and stuff and my teacher said that moms should breastfeed their babies. How come you don't?"

"Ooh, don't get her started, Lily," Clark chuckled. "She's already had several run-ins with the baby police."

"Thanks, Smallville," Lois said, with a bite to her tone.

Lily frowned. Lex wanted to tell his daughter to leave the subject alone, but he didn't want to curb her curiosity either.

"Lily, honey, that's a personal matter."

"It's all right, Lex," Lois answered. "Lily's quite entitled to ask questions. The truth is, honey, I couldn't produce enough milk to feed Lara. It's just something that happens to some women."

"But as far as I'm concerned," Clark spoke up, "it doesn't affect the bonding between mother and child. Lara's the apple of her mom's eye."

"More like the apple of her dad's eye," Lois returned with a smile. "But that's neither here nor there."

"Anyway, my point is, either option is fine," Clark answered.

"Tell that to the baby police," Lois snorted.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"I was sitting in a cafe one day, minding my own business. Lara was about three months old by this time. She was hungry so I asked the cafe staff to warm her bottle so I could feed her. And this woman, a perfect stranger mind you, came up to me and practically attacked me for refusing to breast-feed. She even threatened to call Child Services."

"What? That's totally ridiculous. She can't do that."

"Well, there was this other woman sitting at the next table who got up and told the woman not only was her behaviour inappropriate, but she was also being very insensitive. It was starting to turn into a bitch-slap when the second woman told the one who attacked me that she had no right to judge someone for that choice. It turned out that she had learned she had breast cancer when she was pregnant with her youngest child and had been attacked in public for the same reason. The point is, Lily, people shouldn't be so quick to judge others for the things they do."

Lily nodded soberly. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Yes you should," Lois assured her. "You were curious and there's nothing wrong with that. Next time your class has a discussion like that, you might even give your teacher something to think about."

Clark cleared his throat.

"Uh, so getting back to the previous conversation. Lex, I know the meteor rocks affected a lot of people, but I have to be honest here. It worries me. If you remember, Chloe spent much of her time chasing down leads on the meteor infected."

Lex nodded. "I know, Clark. And that's why it is important to me."

"I still don't know if I like this, Lex. The meteor rock is dangerous."

"Smallville, the man probably works with a lot of dangerous chemicals. I'm sure he has safeguards in place to prevent any incidents," Lois said, turning to look back at Lex. "Am I right?"

Lex nodded. His staff had questioned the need for such stringent standards, but Lex had insisted on adding extra safeguards like protective clothing, masks and gloves, as well as ensuring that no staff member worked with the substance for prolonged periods.

The conversation turned to Martha and how she was doing in Washington. Clark and Lois smiled at each other fondly. It was clear that this was a very close family and it seemed Clark was extremely proud of his mother. Lex had managed to read a few online editions of the Daily Planet and had heard Martha had argued very strongly for education reform, for one thing. A few years ago, she had also argued quite vehemently against something called the Vigilante Registration Act.

"Yeah," Clark said. "That was a pretty bad time for guys like Green Arrow. Even Batman, from what I hear, wasn't immune."

"What exactly was that about?" Lily asked.

"Well, honey, a lot of people were thinking people like Green Arrow were just being vigilantes. It's true that they actually had no powers to detain and arrest criminals, but they were still helping keep their cities safe."

Lex didn't mention that Oliver Queen had come out as the Green Arrow. He also didn't mention the Blur, knowing there had been a few theories that the Blur, who was, of course, Superman, had grown up in Smallville.

Wanting to detract the conversation away from the subject of the VRA, Lex smiled at his old friend.

"So, I hear you're doing really well for yourself as a reporter," Lex said.

Clark nodded. "Well, Lois and I make quite the team."

"Keep this on the QT for now," Lois answered, sounding a little smug, "but we were just told today that we're both up for the Kerth Award this year."

"That's great," Lex smiled. "I've read your work and I have to say it's the best investigative work I've seen in a long time. But I'm curious. A lot of your articles involve Superman. Is it just the two of you he has a close working relationship with or is he like that with all the reporters at the Planet?"

Lois and Clark looked at each other, frowning.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Clark said.

"Well, you do seem to get a lot of exclusive interviews with him." Lex raised his hands. "I'm not knocking it. Superman is doing a lot of good for this city. The world, even. I read of his work over in Japan when the earthquake struck last year."

The quake had been even more devastating than the one that had hit in 2011. Lex was certain there would have been far fewer survivors if Superman had not flown in to help.

"Well, he does what he can," Clark said quietly.

Lex had to wonder why Clark was not as enthusiastic in his praise of Superman as he should be, given that the man, or alien as it had turned out, was a hero. Lily was practically bouncing up and down, grinning.

"My best friend said she saw Superman. In London. Well, it was a few years ago and he wasn't actually Superman then. He was standing on this building –I forget which one, but she said it was awesome. She even said she saw him standing on Big Ben."

"Really?" Lois said, looking down at Lara, who was gurgling happily as her mother bounced her on her knee. "Hear that Smallville?"

Lex looked at the couple, wondering if he'd missed something.

XXXXXXX

Chloe groaned as she rolled over and picked up the phone.

"Chloe Sullivan," said answered, yawning.

"It's Mack, Oliver's attorney."

Chloe sighed, glancing at the bedside clock. It was a little after eight. She had overslept again. Fortunately, she didn't have to be at work today.

"We'll be in Metropolis around nine. Do you want to meet us uptown?"

"Sure. Where?" she said, her brain finally acting to remind her that she was picking up Connor today.

"I have a meeting with a Duncan Allenmeyer at his office. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I have to be there around 9.15. Will that suit?"

"Yeah, sounds fine. Give me the address," she said, grabbing her cellphone and accessing her memo. She typed in the address. "Thanks. I'll see you then."

Chloe hung up and got out of bed, going to shower quickly. She then spent the next twenty minutes stripping her bed and the bed in Connor's room. A quick tidy-up, making sure everything was in its place for her son to mess up when he came home and Chloe was ready.

She left the apartment and drove uptown to the office of Drake and Allenmeyer. From what she knew of the attorneys, the partners were less corporate lawyers and more into community law, defending the rights of individuals against the city. They were both highly successful attorneys, who did not take a case unless they knew they could win. But they also both had high degrees of integrity, which Chloe admired.

She had to wonder what someone like Duncan Allenmeyer was doing meeting with Oliver's lawyer. She knew Oliver still had business interests in Metropolis, but she didn't think it had anything to do with community law.

As she parked her car on the street, she noticed a grey BMW sedan driving in to the underground parking. She frowned, but continued walking into the building.

A security guard looked at her.

"Who are you visiting, miss?"

"Oh, I'm just meeting someone here. At Drake and Allenmeyer?"

The guard nodded and handed her a visitor's pass, then pointed her to the middle lift, releasing it for her. That was another thing she'd read about the two attorneys. They didn't admit clients on weekends. Usually.

"Hold the elevator," a voice called out, just as Chloe entered the car. She pressed the button to hold the doors open, then looked up in surprise as she saw who walked in.

"Lex!"

"Chloe. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Ditto," she said. "Floor?"

"Twenty-seven," he answered. Chloe frowned. Same floor she was going to. She tried to curb her curiosity, but her reporter's nose was twitching.

Lex commented that he'd gone to visit Clark and Lois the night before, accepting their invitation to dinner.

"Lois seems well-suited to Clark," he said.

"Yeah. It took a while. They were pretty much at each other's throats for a couple of years, but then they became best friends."

It was often the best way in a relationship, Chloe thought. Passion died and if the couple weren't friends, what was left? But that didn't explain her and Oliver. They had been friends first. Or co-workers at least. Maybe that was it. Maybe all they'd really had was the fact they had both developed Watchtower together.

Chloe shook herself inwardly, glancing at Lex. It occurred to her again to wonder what he was doing there.

"You have that look," Lex commented mildly.

"What look?"

"The 'I have a question' look."

"Do I?"

Lex grinned. "Yes, you do."

"Damn! Caught!" she laughed. "I was just wondering, actually, who you were visiting."

"Duncan Allenmeyer. He's a friend of mine, but he also does some legal work for me from time to time."

"Wait a minute. You ..."

Lex was Duncan's client? Then that meant that Oliver had been involved in some business deal with Lex. She bit her lip. It was not that she wanted to keep pertinent information from Lex; she knew from Oliver something of their history at Excelsior and knew there hadn't been a lot of love lost between them. After the things she had told Lex the other night, she really wasn't sure she wanted him to know she had been dating Oliver.

But all that was about to explode in her face. As soon as the doors opened, a small boy came running to greet her.

"Mommy!"

Lex looked at her in shock, his face pale, as she picked up her little boy.

"Oh, I missed you so much," she told Connor as she hugged him. "Were you good for Daddy?"

"Yup," he said, bobbing his head up and down in an exaggerated nod. "We had ice cream and we went to the zoo and saw all the animals," he told her in his baby babble.

Chloe carried him into the outer office, looking at Mack, who smiled and ruffled Connor's hair. Mack was standing next to a man about the same height as Lex with dark brown hair and kind, brown eyes. She vaguely remembered him from an article in the Planet.

"Thanks," she said.

Mack nodded. "You're welcome, Chloe."

Neither one of them said anything in front of Connor, but she could tell that Mack was pissed that Oliver would send his two year old son halfway across the country with only an attorney for company. No matter how friendly the attorney was.

Chloe took Connor's bag from Mack, still holding her son. The bag was heavy and it was going to be quite the juggling act, but she had managed before. But it felt like the bag was loaded with heavy bricks, she thought with groan.

"Here, let me help you," Lex offered kindly, taking the bag from her shoulder. "Where's your car?"

"On the street downstairs," she said, not wanting to do something so rude as to decline the offer.

"Duncan, I'm just going to help Chloe. I'll be back in a few."

"Take your time, Lex," Duncan said. "Mack and I will just be reading through the papers anyway."

Lex followed her back out. He had the same expression she guessed she had had in the lift.

"I don't think I need to guess to know what you're thinking," she said. "And the answer is yes."

Lex nodded. "Well, I'll say this much for him. He's a damn fool to have given you up so easily."

"I walked out on him."

"My point exactly."

"I didn't know you and Ollie were doing business together," she prompted.

"Yeah, Oliver invested in Cadmus Labs a few years ago. He was interested in some of the biotech the lab was involved in. When I decided to return to the States, I offered to buy back his investment."

"And Duncan?"

"Is an old friend from school. You probably don't remember, but he helped me with some of the legal paperwork when my father died."

"Oh, right."

"I know it's not Duncan's field, but he offered to help me out with the paperwork for Cadmus."

Chloe walked out to her car, unlocking the door and putting Connor in his booster seat. She made sure he was strapped in before taking the bag from Lex and putting it on the seat next to her son.

"You know, Oliver told me you two had a history," she said. "I just ... I'm surprised, I guess."

"Well, we've both done a lot of maturing since Excelsior," Lex answered. "And we are old enough to recognise the mutual benefits of business together."

"Oh, well, I suppose. Anyway, I should let you get back to your meeting. Thanks for the assist."

"You're welcome," he smiled, turning to go back into the building. He hesitated. "Listen, Chloe, uh, if you're free ... I was wondering if you'd like to have coffee with me some time. You know, whenever."

Chloe grinned inwardly, guessing that had been just as awkward for Lex as it sounded. It seemed like it had been a long time since he'd asked anyone out on a date. Or at least a date that wasn't some kind of red carpet event.

"I'd like that," she said. "I'll call you and set something up."

"Great!"

Chloe got in the car, a huge smile on her face.

"Who was that, Mommy?" Connor asked.

"A friend," she answered.

"A good friend?"

She nodded, glancing at the two year old in her mirror. He was the image of his father with his short, spiky blonde locks and a tiny dimple in his chin.

She still had feelings for Oliver, even if most of them were more on the negative side, given the way they'd left things. But it was a long time since the thought of a smile from the blonde archer had sent tingles up her spine.

Now it seemed she was getting those tingles again. For someone else. And she had to admit it was nice to get those feelings again at a smile from him.

"Yes, Connor, I think he's going to be a very good friend."


	10. Chapter 10

Chloe opened the back door of her car and helped Connor with his seat belt. The two year old jumped out and into her arms, full of the energy that only a toddler could have. She lifted him, groaning slightly at the weight and closed the door, picking up the bag. Pressing the button on the remote to lock the car and turn on the alarm, she held on to her son and walked out of the parking lot, glancing up the street before crossing.

As she made it across and began walking down toward the Daily Planet building, she happened to glance up at the tall tower beside it. It had once housed Luthorcorp, but after Lionel's death and the subsequent break-up of the corporation, the tower had been leased by a number of smaller businesses. The top ten floors of the sixty-storey building were now the Metropolis headquarters of Queen Industries.

"Mommy?"

Chloe looked down at her son. Connor was wanting down. She let him go and put him down on the sidewalk, crouching down.

"Now, remember," she said. "You have to be on your best behaviour, okay? Mommy has to go to work."

Connor nodded seriously. Chloe gently stroked his cheek and lightly pinched his nose. She hated having to put him into daycare, even though the Planet had great facilities. It was one of the many changes Oliver had implemented when he had taken over the company from Galaxy Communications, little knowing that his ex-partner would be needing the same facilities. He wasn't unsympathetic to the needs of his employees, even if he wasn't the most amenable of fathers to his own son.

Walking as quickly as her son's little legs could keep up, Chloe made her way into the building, signalling for the lift. As she started to enter the lift, a voice called out.

"Hold the elevator."

Chloe quickly pressed the button to hold the doors open and Jimmy Olsen stepped in with a toothy grin.

"Morning Miss Sullivan," he said. "Good morning Connor."

"Good morning Mr Olsen," Connor said, stumbling over his words.

"Jimmy, you know you can just call me Chloe," she sighed as she pressed the button for the fifth floor. "I was married to your brother."

Jimmy just shrugged. "I know, but ..."

Chloe had met Jimmy's older brother Henry during a three-month internship at the Daily Planet following her freshman year of high school. She'd slept with him once. It had been awkward, fumbling in the backseat of his old jalopy and Chloe had regretted the experience. She had never regretted the fact that her first time had been with him; just where it had happened.

It seemed strange sometimes, to refer to the younger Olsen as Jimmy when the man she had eventually married was also known as Jimmy. He'd always hated his first name, preferring to be called by his middle name. His mother had been an avid reader of Henry James' novels. Or so it had been claimed. The elder Jimmy's mother had walked out on the family when he'd been less than a year old.

His father, on the other hand, had met another woman a few years later and she had given birth to a boy they named James Bartholomew.

Chloe hadn't learned all of this until a few weeks before she and 'Jimmy' had married in the barn at the Kent Farm. Following the ceremony, a creature which came to be known as Doomsday crashed the party, carting Chloe off and almost killing Jimmy in the process. Doomsday had turned out to be a Kryptonian genetic creation of General Zod and his wife Faora, who had been bent on using Doomsday to destroy Earth and its population.

Doomsday, or its so-called 'human' counterpart, was a former paramedic named Davis Bloome, who had been obsessed with Chloe. When she had later chosen Jimmy over Davis, he had murdered Jimmy in a rage. Jimmy had died in her arms, but not before he had managed to kill the mortal side of Davis. Chloe, Oliver and the team had used black Kryptonite on the creature to separate it from Davis.

Chloe had met the younger Olsen at his brother's funeral and she had presented him with her husband's camera. She'd had no idea that young Jimmy would see it as a sign and would take up photography himself. The eighteen-year-old was now working part-time at the Planet while he completed his arts degree.

The elevator dinged, signalling the arrival on the fifth floor. Chloe took her son's hand and guided him out, smiling quickly at the younger man.

"See you later Jimmy."

"Sure thing Miss ... I mean, Chloe," he said, grinning cheekily. "'Bye Connor."

"'Bye!" Connor answered, giving a little wave. Chloe grinned at her son, remembering she'd taught him to wave when he was about six months old and he still had that cute way of opening and closing his fist in a pseudo-wave.

The daycare centre was already full. Two little boys were sitting in the corner, tapping on plastic bowls with wooden spoons, pretending to sing along to whatever song they had made up on the spot.

Chloe grinned at her cousin as Lois stood talking to the supervisor. She was holding Lara in her arms. Jonny was already zooming around the room pretending to be Superman. He even had a red cape tied around his neck in imitation of his father. He'd always been precocious for his age.

Then Jonny spotted Connor and ran forward, giving his cousin a huge bone-cracking hug.

"Gently, Jonny," Chloe admonished him.

While the boy didn't have all his father's strength, and in all probability, according to Emil Hamilton, would not have the full range of abilities his father had, they still had to remind him to be careful. Even at two, he was much stronger than a normal human child his age.

Connor just grinned up at his mother and took his cousin's hand. Chloe chuckled as the two boys went running off to another corner of the room to play their own version of superheroes and villains.

Lois was laughing at her son's antics.

"Hey Chlo," she said. "I see you got Connor back in one piece."

"Yeah. He seemed to have a good time with his father though."

"I'll say one thing for Oliver," Lois commented. "He may be a lousy father, but he does try."

"It's not his fault," Chloe defended as Lois handed her daughter over and they walked out together. "You know how busy he is."

"You are too. And Clark is ... well, you know how busy he is, but he still makes time for his kids. I can't believe after all this time you're still defending him."

"What do you expect me to do, Lois? Cry? Get angry at him? I don't want Connor growing up thinking he should hate his father. At the end of the day, Oliver is still his father and I want my son to respect him. Even if Oliver doesn't do me the same courtesy."

"He's the one who cheated on you."

"That's neither here nor there. We didn't know I was pregnant when all that was going on. And honestly, when it comes down to it, it wasn't exactly his fault either. Not all his fault."

"And if he'd had a problem with how hard you were working, he should have talked to you, not gone off with that she-devil in fishnet tights."

"Seriously, what do you have against Dinah?"

"Have you forgotten she tied me up and knocked me out?"

"Lo, that was years ago. And like it or not, Dinah is a part of the team."

Lois sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Chloe decided a change of subject was in order as they walked up the stairs to the tenth floor for the usual Monday morning editorial meeting.

"So where's Clark?"

"There was a four-car pile-up on the I-90," Lois said, glancing around at the other reporters walking along the corridor. "He went to cover it after he heard Superman was there helping."

Cat Grant smirked at them, tossing her blonde hair. She was entirely too perky for a Monday morning.

"Isn't it funny you two have such a great relationship with Superman? It's not like he gives exclusives to anyone else."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lois growled, but Chloe took her cousin's arm and led her into the boardroom.

Perry White gestured for everyone to sit around the table.

"All right. Let's hear what you've got. Lane, we'll start with you. Where's Kent?"

"Pile-up on the highway chief," Lois said.

"Well, guess you'll have to start without him. What's the latest on Intergang?"

Chloe tuned out as her cousin began outlining the latest story she and Clark were chasing. After years of silence, in which Chloe believed the criminal organisation had gone underground, Intergang had begun rearing its ugly head once more. They had a number of so-called legitimate businesses, including Galaxy Communications, which had owned the Daily Planet for years, and a few CostMart stores scattered all over the city. But they controlled much of the organised crime as well. Any small-time criminal who refused to go along with their demands was soon run out of town.

Superman was, of course, extremely unpopular with Intergang. Its chiefs had searched the globe for people with super-human abilities, sending them up against the big blue Boyscout.

"Right," Perry's voice broke into her thoughts. "Sullivan, what's the latest on Luthor?"

"Uh, well, he won't do an interview chief. He's kind of cagey about the media. And he wants his privacy."

"I don't care if he lives in a cave, Sullivan!" Perry glowered at her. "There are rumours of massive restructuring at Cadmus Labs and I want the story on him. If you're not going to do the interview then I'll assign Cat."

Chloe glanced at the blonde. There was no way in hell she was going to let that she-devil in disguise ride roughshod over Lex's wishes to protect himself and his daughter. Cat's name might have been made up to protect herself from a violent ex, but she definitely had claws and wasn't afraid to use them. That so-called angelic face was nothing but a facade.

"I'll talk to him again, chief," Chloe said.

XXXXXX

The week had been an endless round of meetings with staff and contractors, trying to make inroads to the expansions to Cadmus, as well as trying to ease the concerns of each of his scientists. Lex had barely had time to think, let alone see what his daughter had been up to all week.

He scratched his lip absently as he tried to read over the latest contracts, but the fine print was giving him a headache.

The intercom buzzed and he put down the paper, staring morosely at the phone system. He still hadn't quite figured the damn thing out.

"Some genius," he thought, especially if the simplest of technologies could confuse him this much.

Mikki had tried to be patient, but even her patience had been worn thin by a boss who was, as Lily often suggested, an absent-minded professor.

"You still haven't worked out the com system, have you?"

Lex looked up, hearing the laughter in his sister's voice.

"Thanks, Tess, you're a real comfort. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I thought I should take you to lunch."

Lex shook his head. "I have too much work to do."

The redhead sighed. "And from what I've been hearing, you've been working sixteen hour days, at the very least, every day this week. I'm not surprised Lily's complaining."

"Lily's complaining?" he asked, immediately concerned.

He had made a promise to his daughter when they had, or rather he had, decided to return to the States, that he would try to spend more time at home and less time working. His first week at work and he had broken that promise.

"Come on," Tess cajoled. "You know, I have it on good authority that the cafeteria here is not that bad. And I have a feeling you've barely even stopped to take a bite."

"I eat," Lex said in protest.

"When was the last time you ate a good, solid meal?" she asked.

"Uh ..." Lex had to think about that one. He'd grabbed a sandwich the night before, which Lily had obviously made and left in the refrigerator for him. Before that he ...

His sister sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't make me the bully here, Lex."

Lex threw up his hands in surrender and got up from the desk, following Tess out. She led him out of the office. He couldn't fail to notice the look of gratitude from his assistant. Was he really that bad a boss?

"No, Lex," Tess said, making him wonder if he'd said it out loud. "You're not that bad a boss. You just tend to get too caught up in your work. To the detriment of everything else."

The cafeteria reminded him a little of the trip to the food court at the mall the week before. Except here the food seemed to be a much better quality. In his not-so-humble opinion.

Thinking of the meal he'd shared with his daughter reminded him that he'd neglected the teen all week.

Tess grabbed two trays and slid them down the rail to pick up two hot meals, then took them to a table.

"So what's wrong with Lily?" he asked.

"Well, she wouldn't say in so many words, but according to her, this place sucks. Her school sucks and she wishes you'd never come here."

Lex frowned. Lily loved school. What had happened in her first few days to make her hate the place? And how could he have not noticed she was unhappy?

"Lex, let's be clear about one thing. Lily is a teenager and she's prone to hyperbole. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's making a mountain out of a molehill. You really need to talk to her."

"Yeah, you're right, I do. But I ..."

"No, Lex. Don't go using work as an excuse. There is nothing more important than your daughter's happiness." She leaned forward. "Lex, trust me, I know what it's like to have a father who couldn't care less. You know what my adoptive father was like."

Tess had told him when they'd first met at the reading of Lionel's will that she had been adopted by a couple in Louisiana. But her father had been an abusive alcoholic and Tess had spent much of her formative years afraid of her own shadow. It wasn't until she'd got into Harvard University at fifteen that she had been able to come out of her shell. It had helped that she had met a professor who had been her mentor.

While on a study trip in the Pacific, Tess and her group had been kidnapped by drug smugglers. She had been taken to an island where she had met Oliver Queen, who had been shipwrecked two years earlier. She had saved Oliver's life and he, in turn, had saved them both.

She had dated Oliver for two years and he had begun to teach her self-defence. When she'd left Oliver after he'd cheated on her, she had taken what she had learned one step further, enrolling in martial arts classes.

A year ago she had moved to Metropolis to take up a job teaching at Met U. She didn't have to work, since her share of Luthorcorp had set her up for life, but Tess liked to be, as she called it, useful.

Lex loved having his sister close. In the years since he'd been in England, he had emailed Tess back and forth. If there was one thing Sarah had taught him, it was that family was important. Family was everything. It didn't make him weak to care about them.

Lucas, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. He had taken the money Lex had given him for his shares and made some bad investments before taking off to who knew where to escape his creditors. Last he'd heard, Lucas had ended up in jail for assault with a deadly weapon, still cursing Lex for refusing to bail him out of trouble.

"There's something else," Tess said as she finished her lunch.

Lex blinked, barely realising he had basically been day-dreaming instead of eating.

"Oh?" he asked.

"You know there was a story in the Inquisitor last week. The story dredged up a lot of old stuff, including the things Nixon implied about Lionel's death. And that bitch Kerrie Castle; I don't know what you did to her, Lex, but she really has her claws out for you. You need to nip this in the bud."

Lex barely remembered Kerrie. She had pretended to break down on the road to try to get an interview with him, then when he'd agreed to the interview, she had come on to him very strongly. Sarah had been nearly six months pregnant at the time and she'd been out shopping but had come home early to find the woman trying to seduce Lex. Sarah had been livid and had immediately got on the phone to the woman's editor, who had promptly fired the reporter.

Kerrie had managed to get another job with a tabloid rag not long after Sarah's death and she had tried again to get an interview. But Lex had still been reeling from the shock of his wife's death and new fatherhood and had turned her down flat.

Lex said goodbye to his sister, promising they would all have dinner together at some point, and returned to his office. Mikki stopped him.

"Uh, you have a few messages. Miss Sullivan from the Planet has been calling a few times this week."

Lex smacked himself on the forehead. He'd totally forgotten about the coffee date.

He just nodded politely and took the messages. Chloe had called at least ten times since Monday. There were three messages from a Cat Grant, also apparently from the Daily Planet, wanting to know if she could interview him.

Lex sighed and closed the door of his office, picking up the phone and dialling Chloe's office number.

"Chloe, it's Lex."

"Lex? My god, do you know how many times I've tried to call you?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I ... well, I've been, uh, busy. Work, you know."

And could this get any more awkward?

"You know there are stories in the tabloids?"

"Uh, yeah, I know," he said, silently thanking his sister for the heads-up. "And from what I understand, another reporter at the Planet has been wanting to interview me as well."

"Yeah, Cat Grant," Chloe said bitterly. "I'd steer well clear of her. Listen, my editor's really in a tailspin over all the restructuring at Cadmus. I know how you feel about the media but ..."

"Uh, look, why don't you come over to my apartment tomorrow?" he said. "It's Saturday, isn't it?"

"I'd have to bring Connor with me," she said. "Saturdays are my day off and I don't think I can ask Lois and Clark to babysit."

"That's fine," Lex assured her. "I'm sure Lily can keep an eye on him." He quickly gave her the address. "So I'll see you at ten?"

"Ten it is," she said with a smile in her voice. "See you then."


	11. Chapter 11

Lex inserted his key in the lock and stepped inside the apartment. He could hear the television blaring in the living room and sighed. Was it really necessary to have the volume up so high?

"Lily," he called out.

He put his briefcase down on the table and dropped his keys beside it.

"Well, if it isn't the prodigal father."

He looked around. Lily was standing in the doorway, smirking.

"Sarcasm does not become you, Lily," he said.

She ignored him, glancing exaggeratedly at her watch.

"Well, will you look at that? Six o'clock and you're home."

"Lily," he admonished her.

His daughter rolled her eyes and went to the fridge, opening the door and pulling out a new bottle of juice. She deliberately opened it and drank from it.

Okay, he thought, she's angry about something.

"Lillian Marie Luthor, how many times have I told you not to drink from the bottle?"

"About a million," she said, wiping her mouth and glaring at him. "How come you're home so early?"

"Your Aunt Tess came to see me today," he said.

"Oh great, let me guess, she's been tattling."

"Lily ..." he warned.

"Say whatever you're going to say, Pops, and get it over with. You don't want to hear my opinion anyway."

What the hell had gotten into his daughter? It seemed as if over the past week his loving daughter had been replaced by a sulky teenager. And Pops? he thought, raising his eyebrow.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" he asked.

"You never asked me how I felt about coming here," she said sulkily. "You just made the decision. I hate this place. I hate this city, I hate my school, and I hate you for making me come here!"

Lily rushed past him, dumping the bottle on the table so hard it tipped over, leaving Lex to grab it before it could fall on the floor and smash. Meanwhile, his daughter had obviously gone to her room, slamming the door. One of the pictures hanging on the wall in the hallway fell off its hook and onto the floor, smashing the glass.

Lex set about cleaning up the broken glass, sighing. He heard music blaring from his daughter's room but didn't tell her to turn it down. He considered knocking on her door, but he doubted she would listen to anything he had to say anyway.

Returning to the kitchen, he began looking through the cupboards, wondering what to have for dinner. He never had been the best of cooks, although he'd tried when they'd been in London. Two years of fighting with his young daughter trying to get her to eat the burnt offerings he'd made had him throwing in the towel and calling for help.

He really should think about hiring a housekeeper.

Giving in to the inevitable, Lex picked up the phone and dialled the by now familiar number.

"Yes, I'd like a large pizza please. Pepperoni, sausage, onion, extra cheese."

Lily liked cheese.

He hung up after giving the address and went into the study, flopping down on the chair beside the desk with a heavy sigh. He sat, staring at the picture of his wife for a few minutes, touching the glass with a finger.

"I wish you were here," he said.

Biting his lip, he looked at her picture again and realised there was only one thing to do. He picked up the phone on his desk.

"Information? Could I have the number for Martha Kent please? Senator Martha Kent?"

The woman on the line gave him the number of her office and he dialled it.

"Senator Kent's office."

"Hello, uh, is Senator Kent in?" He glanced at the clock, realising how late it was, but hoped if she wasn't there he could at least get her private number.

"Who may I say is calling?" the woman asked.

"Uh, my name is Lex. Luthor. I, uh, I'm an old friend of her son's."

"Hold please."

Lex fidgeted, getting up from the chair and taking the handset with him as he paced the room. It seemed like minutes before the line was picked up again but it was probably less than a minute.

"Lex? Clark told me you had come home."

"Mrs ... I mean, Martha. It's good to hear your voice."

"You too, Lex. How are you? And how is Lily?"

"We're fine. Settling in. And Lily is, uh ..."

What did he say? Especially to a woman he respected more than anyone.

"I was so sorry to hear about Jonathan," he said. "I wanted to come back for the funeral, but I ..."

"I understood why you couldn't be there," she said. "And I did appreciate the flowers."

"I'd really like to visit you in Washington. If you have time."

"I'll make the time. But Lex, you didn't call me to catch up, did you?"

Astute as always, he thought with a wry grin.

"Actually, you're right," he said. "I need advice."

He told her what had happened with Lily. Martha listened, asking a few questions, but mostly not interrupting.

"Well, you sound like you have your hands full," she said. "It seems Lily has hit puberty with a vengeance."

Lex gave a half-chuckle. "It certainly seems like it."

"What do you think might have precipitated this?"

"I don't know. I haven't really been home ... I've been so caught up with work."

"So you haven't noticed anything going on since you've been at work and she's been at school? Lex, I think I see what the problem is. You and Lily have always been close and she's probably felt like you've been ignoring her. Clearly, something has happened at her new school and she's been unable to talk to you about it. So she's acted out in frustration."

"What do I do?"

"Talk to her. See if you can get her to tell you what's been going on. Remind her that her behaviour is not acceptable; be lenient, but punish her."

"Is that what you did with Clark when he was her age?"

"Oh, you don't really want to know what I did with Clark. When he was little he could have temper tantrums that made me fear for the house. Do you remember when he was fifteen and he went through a minor phase of rebellion?"

Lex remembered. He'd been so caught up in his grief for Sarah that he hadn't really delved into what was going on, but he knew Clark had been acting out.

"What did you do?"

"Well, all we could really do then was ground him for a month."

He sighed again. "I'm not sure grounding would work with Lily."

"You don't know unless you try, Lex," Martha said. "You're a good father. You wouldn't have got this far with her if you weren't. But you have to remember that Lily is at that age where those around her will influence her thoughts and actions more. From what I hear, she's a good girl and you just have to trust that."

"Thanks. I really needed that," he said.

"I'm always here if you need me," Martha said and he could hear the smile in her voice. "And Lex?"

"Yes?"

"Don't be a stranger."

The intercom buzzed.

"I have to go, Martha," he said. "The pizza's here."

"Oh dear, you still haven't learned to cook, have you? Clearly my lessons were wasted on you."

Lex grinned sheepishly, remembering the months after Sarah's death when Martha had tried teaching him to cook. "Maybe I need a refresher course from the best cook in the state."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Lex Luthor."

Lex laughed as he hung up, feeling a little better. He went out to get the pizza and returned to the apartment. Lily had come out of her room.

"Pizza?" she said eagerly.

"With extra cheese," he said.

Lily snatched the box and opened it, taking out a slice.

"Mm, good!" she said with her mouth full.

"Lily," he began.

"Not now, Dad. Pizza!"

"Fine. But after dinner you and I are going to sit down and have a little talk young lady." Lily rolled her eyes. "And don't roll your eyes at me, Lillian. I'm still your father and what I say goes."

"Yeah? Well, sure hasn't seemed like it this week."

Lex held his temper. He'd never had to punish his daughter. Not really. She'd had tantrums when she was little, but they'd been brief and time out in her room had worked well. But time out wouldn't work this time, he thought.

Lily demolished half the pizza in no time, and still had room for the salad Lex had put together. As soon as she was done eating, however, she began to make moves toward her room.

"Uh uh, no you don't young lady. You're going to come back here and sit at this table."

"Daaad!"

"No, Lily," he said firmly. "Sit down!"

Reluctantly, she did so, flopping down heavily on the chair with an exaggerated sigh.

"First, you're grounded!"

"What? But that's not fair!"

"I'm only going to say this once more, Lily. I am your father and you will do as you're told. You don't talk back to me the way you did earlier. I deserve at least a modicum of respect."

Lily snorted. Lex chose to ignore the snort.

"Look, I'm sorry I wasn't here when you needed me," he said. "I'm sorry I've been working so much this week. It's been a difficult transition for both of us. But you don't talk to me that way. If there is a problem, we talk about it."

"I tried. Your stupid secretary wouldn't let me through and your cell was always switched off."

"I was working on some delicate experiments and I couldn't have phone calls interrupting me. And she's my assistant, not my secretary."

"Same thing."

"What happened at school?"

Lily looked away from him for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"Remember how I told you about those guys being dicks at the mall?"

"Yes."

"Well, it was like that, only much worse. There was this kid who kept annoying me, saying all kinds of things about you and about Grandpa. And they were really mean things. Like they said that you caused Grandpa's death and stuff like that."

Lex sighed. He'd known when he'd decided to return that it wasn't going to be easy. For either of them. And Lily was vulnerable. It was precisely the reason why he had left in the first place.

"Lily, honey, you know what happened with your grandfather. There was a tornado. Remember? It was what killed your mother."

"I know, Dad. But I hate people who spread stories."

"I know. I do too. But I'm going to talk to someone tomorrow about it."

"Who?"

"A reporter. Her name is Chloe. She's Clark's friend."

"Oh. That lady who was Lois' bridesmaid?"

"Yes, that's her. She's coming here tomorrow and she'll be bringing her son with her. So I need you to look out for him."

Lily looked at him as if the thought of looking after a kid was going to be a hassle, but she said nothing.

"I'll even add extra to your allowance if you keep him occupied," Lex offered, knowing it sounded like a bribe, but figured it was better than nothing.

"Okay, I'll babysit. How old is he anyway?"

"He's Jon's age."

"Oh." Lily had that faraway look in her eyes again. "Dad, what do I do about the kids at school?"

"Honey, I'm no expert, but I think the best thing you can do is stand your ground and not let them upset you. I'm sure once you make a few friends, things will be much easier. But if things get really bad, talk to your teacher. I know that other kids might see you as a narc, but I don't care. And I'll talk to Mikki and make sure that she lets me know you've called. For whatever reason. Okay? Let's not let this happen again."

Lily nodded. "Okay," she said. She stood up and put her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have said that stuff. I just ... I was happy in England."

"I know, sweetheart, but it was time to come home. And there were a few things I needed to do here that I couldn't do in England."

"Like what?"

"Like a research project," he said. "It was just important for me to do it here, all right?"

"Okay. Dad," she said, "am I still grounded?"

"Yes, you are."

"Rats!" she said with a sheepish grin. She turned, long hair flying, and went off to her room, hopefully to do her homework.

xxxxxxxxx

Chloe had no idea why her heart was pounding as she parked the car and opened the door for her son. She looked up at the apartment building. It was fairly modest, considering how much Lex was worth. At least on paper. After the break-up of Luthorcorp, and the division of the estate between the three siblings, the value of Lex's holdings had dwindled down to a mere twelve billion.

Chloe snorted to herself as she started to walk up the front steps, carrying Connor's bag, which was full of toys. Only twelve billion. Chump change really. In an alternate reality.

A doorman opened the door for her.

"Good morning, Miss," he said. "Are you here to visit someone?"

"Yes, I'm here to see Lex Luthor. I'm Chloe Sullivan with the Daily Planet. This is my son, Connor."

The man broke out into a brilliant smile.

"Of course. Mr Luthor told us to expect you. Take the express elevator to the top floor. I'll call ahead and tell him you're on your way."

"Thank you," she said, smiling politely.

As she entered the lift, she hefted the bag on her shoulder and looked down at her son, who was holding her sweater tightly.

"Now, Connor, I need you to be a good boy, okay? Mr Luthor and I have some things to talk about and his daughter Lily is going to look after you."

"Okay Mommy," he said, his other hand going to his mouth. He began to suck on his thumb.

"Oh, baby, don't do that," she said, taking his hand out of his mouth. "It's not good for you."

Connor only sucked his thumb when he was nervous and that Chloe could understand very well.

The elevator door opened and Chloe stepped out, taking a deep breath. Lex stepped out of his apartment at the same time and smiled at her.

"Hi. Had you timed right down to the second."

"Cute," she said with a hint of sarcasm. Lex grinned unrepentantly at her.

"Come on in," he said.

Chloe followed him inside, prepared for a luxurious apartment. She was pleasantly surprised to find it was as modest as the exterior of the building. Lex, or his decorator at least, had clearly gone for comfort rather than style. There were two huge armchairs in the living room, covered in a dark suede fabric.

She saw a girl stretched out on the couch watching cartoons on the television. But she looked around at Chloe, then got up hastily.

"Hi," she said, smiling brightly. "You must be Miss Sullivan."

"Chloe's fine," Chloe answered, taking the girl's outstretched hand. "You're Lily. I haven't seen you since you were about eight months old."

Lily nodded. "Yeah, Dad told me you guys knew each other before."

Chloe winked at her. "Play your cards right, I might even tell you some of your Dad's little secrets," she said.

Lily laughed, then looked at her father.

"Told you she was pretty Dad."

"Yes, yes, okay, you got me." He nodded down at Connor. "This is Connor."

"Hi Connor," Lily said, bending down to his height. "I'm Lily."

"Hewwo," he said around his thumb. Chloe sighed. He was obviously feeling very nervous.

Chloe put the bag down. "I brought some of Connor's toys. I figured you wouldn't have anything."

But Connor was clearly attracted to the colours and movement on the television as he sat down on the floor in front of it. Lily glanced at her, then her father and nodded, going to sit down with Connor.

"Shall we adjourn to the study?" Lex asked.

Chloe smiled as she followed him.

"You haven't changed much," she said.

"Oh? In what way?"

"You still talk like a Lexicon. Clark used to tell me he had difficulty keeping up with you sometimes."

Lex laughed. Chloe smiled again. He had a nice laugh.

"Coffee?" he asked. "It's made fresh."

"Thank you."

"I'm afraid I don't have a cappuccino maker," he said.

"That's okay. I'm not much of a coffee drinker these days anyway. I had to give it up when I was pregnant with Connor. Every time I even smelled coffee I was nauseous."

Lex raised an eyebrow at her.

"I seem to recall you always had a cup of coffee in your hand. Even Clark joked they'd have to surgically detach it."

"Clark said that? Ooh, he is so going to pay for that!"

Lex put the cups of coffee down on the table. There was a couch along the far wall of the study covered in the same fabric as the chairs in the living room.

"This is a nice apartment," Chloe said.

"You seem surprised."

"Well, to be honest, I did sort of expect you to be living in something, I don't know, luxurious, I guess. I mean, you did live in a castle for a year or so."

"Sarah hated that castle," Lex said softly. "She said the only thing that made that place a home was me. I used to tell her I felt the same way about her. After she was gone, I ... I couldn't stand the place. I wanted to sell it but no one wanted to buy it." He looked at her. "I heard it was destroyed in a fire."

"Yeah. Well, the place had been empty for years and some kids got in and decided to camp out in it. One of them got careless and ... well ... Anyway, one of the kids fell and would have been burnt alive if it hadn't been for the Blur."

"I heard people believed the Blur came from Smallville."

"It's one of the theories," she said.

"You don't think so?" he asked.

"Well, Superman is from another planet."

"But where had he been all that time?" Lex mused. "I mean, if the rumours are true about him being the Blur."

"You'd probably be best asking Clark and Lois about that. They're the ones who do the most stories on Superman."

Chloe didn't want to sound evasive, but she needed to get Lex off the topic of Superman. While Lex was a good man, she wasn't sure how he'd feel about the man who had once been his best friend being revealed to be the big blue Boyscout.

She sipped her coffee, watching as Lex sipped his own and scratched the knot at the back of his head.

"Uh, right, anyway, Chloe, I asked you here because I wanted to set the record straight. I've seen the articles in the Inquisitor and they have got a few of their facts wrong. I trust you, but I need to know that you'll be honest in your story."

"Of course," she assured him. "I made my reputation on my integrity and honesty and I will keep to that." She took her notepad and Dictaphone out of her bag. "Where do you want to start?"

"Why don't we start at the beginning," he said. "With Smallville."

"All right." She picked up her pen and began to write. "So, tell me how you ended up in Smallville."

They talked for a long time. Lex told her about his decision to move to England with his daughter and the rumours which had precipitated it. Then about his time in England and his work, and exactly what had brought him back to the States.

It was after noon when Chloe looked at the clock again.

"Wow," she said. "You realise it's lunchtime?"

Lex glanced at the clock. "I didn't realise it was so late."

"I should go check on Connor," she said, getting up.

"I should start preparing lunch," he said, following her up and heading to the kitchen. He turned and looked at her. "Would you like to stay? It'll only be sandwiches but you're welcome to stay."

"I'd like that," she said. "How about I go quickly check on my son then I'll come and help you."

Lex beamed and Chloe's heart gave a little flutter. She watched him walk out, then headed to the living room, giving herself a mental shake. She'd been here for an interview, not a date. Trouble was, her heart wasn't listening to her head.

Lily looked up from a book as Chloe entered the room.

"Shh," she said softly. "He's asleep."

Chloe looked down at her son fondly. He was sacked out on the rug, sleeping soundly. Usually, even at the best of times, she had difficulty getting him to take naps.

"How's he been?" she asked in a loud whisper.

"Great! He watched cartoons with me for a while, then played with his toys. He's a good kid."

"Yeah, he is. I'm just going to go help your dad with lunch."

"You're staying?" Lily asked, almost forgetting to keep her voice low. "Cool!"

Chloe laughed softly, going back out to the kitchen. Lex had already begun laying out ingredients for hero sandwiches. Chloe grabbed the kitchen knife from the block and began slicing tomatoes, while Lex grated some cheese.

Chloe started to move around Lex to get to the chicken he'd obviously bought from the local deli and found herself looking up into his grey-blue eyes. For a moment, it was as if the two of them were under a kind of spell.

He's going to kiss me, she thought. A big part of her welcomed the kiss, even if another, smaller part of her thought she was being disloyal to Oliver. But even as those two thoughts were warring in her head, her heart wasn't listening. She parted her lips, unconsciously licking them and Lex's gaze was locked onto that tiny flash of pink tongue.

Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to hers and Chloe was lost. She found herself pressed against the counter as Lex's arms came around her waist. She pressed her hands flat against his chest, feeling his nipples hardening beneath her fingers. God, he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She opened her mouth wider, feeling his tongue sliding against hers in a sweet invasion.

"Mommy?"

And just like that, the moment was broken.


End file.
